


The Lies We Tell

by RippleInthePond



Category: Supernatural
Genre: False prophecy, Original Character(s), Talking Animals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-04
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-07-29 13:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7687300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RippleInthePond/pseuds/RippleInthePond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All of the angels lie, but the archangels have told the biggest lie of them all. How much longer will their secret remain hidden? Is the world ready for the truth?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Truth of All Things

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Supernatural. I had this story posted on fanfiction.net and I figured I should probably post it here.

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 1: Truth of All Things  
Written by RippleInThePond

* * *

Angels lie. This is known to be a novel concept as angels are meant to be pure and perfect beings, incapable of making mistakes.

Angels lie about their intentions, they lie about their motives, and they often lie to themselves. It is how they are able to face every new day.

But, the biggest lie anyone was ever told was told by the archangels. You see, they have this little gift that no one knows about.

Erasing.

That sounds completely ridiculous, right? Well, it isn't. It is painful and emotionally scarring. The archangels can take someone's name and erase it from all books and all records. They can take the memories of a person and remove them from someone's mind, replacing them with new ones. They can make it so there is no proof that someone never existed, and then they can make that person no longer exist, decimating their body. It is the worst punishment they can give; even worse than the cage.

And this is their lie, because they can't forget what they erase. It is burned into their minds like a brand. They told the world that there are only four archangels, but they lied. There had been five,but one was betrayed. Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Raphael, and the one that no one remembers anymore.

Her name was Lyriel. Yes, she. She was different from all of the angels. She had taken 9 months to take form, starting as a child. The strangest thing was that she had a physical form. She was the youngest of the archangels.

She had long hair that lay on her back in delicate beach waves that were such a dark black it was as if it was merely the absence of light. Her eyes were the exact image of opal, and her lips the color of a rose; constantly in a slight smile. Her skin was extremely fair, so fair it could have been mistaken for pure, clean snow.

Lyriel had been the most powerful archangel out of all of them. She was the songwriter of heaven and the first angel to master free will through the creativity of her music.

Because she had loved the idea of the humans immediately, they had chosen to erase her. It took all of the others to complete this task. It had been Lucifer's idea and Raphael followed immediately. Michael had been coerced into believing it was right, but Gabriel... he hadn't wanted to.

You see, he raised Lyriel after she fully formed. He was the closest to her, but he did it anyways because of course the Morningstar couldn't have been so wrong. Not to mention he was terrified of his family.

So, they erased her while she was on a mission and when she returned home, she found that she was a stranger to those she loved.

Lucifer had wanted to erase her completely and destroy her body. Maybe he thought that it would rid him of guilt, but then he ultimately decided to let her live and suffer. After all, what worse way could there possibly be to make someone suffer than to take what they love and leave them completely and utterly alone?

No longer having a home, she left and went to Earth. She gave herself a human name and she hid from from the sight of the heavenly host. She masked her grace and changed her face and dreamed of the times when she was loved.

This is the archangels' lie, and their greatest betrayal. Erasing someone and leaving them alive is more painful than any physical injury that someone could possibly inflict.

I would know, for I am Lyriel, and this is the story that tells the truth.

 


	2. Miracles

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 2: Miracles  
Written by RippleInThePond 

* * *

 

Dean and Sam walked into Mia's, a popular café in the area, picking up the local newspaper as they walked by the stand that stood next to the door. After being led to a table by a waitress, they sat down and looked over the menu quickly.

Dean smiled flirtatiously at the waitress after he decided what to order, looking her over. Sam rolled his eyes before speaking.

"I'll take the chicken caesar salad with a banana protein shake." He handed her his menu and looked at Dean to see that he was still checking her out. Keeping a straight face, he kicked Dean hard under the table, knocking him out of his reverie.  
Dean glared at Sam before smiling at the waitress.

"I'll take a deluxe double bacon burger with curly fries and a slice of apple pie with extra whipped cream." He handed his menu to her, looking at her behind as she walked away.

"Dude! Seriously!?" He turned to Sam and smiled.

"What? I'm not allowed to appreciate the finer things?" Sam shook his head in disbelief, picking up the newspaper from where he placed it on the table. Dean laughed and did the same, scanning for a possible case.

Lucifer had been keeping quiet. Sam and Dean had no leads whatsoever concerning him, so they had decided to act like somewhat normal hunters again.

The waitress returned in a little bit with their orders and Sam gave a nod of thanks, putting down his newspaper. Dean put his newspaper down as well and gave her a lecherous grin. She scrunched her nose and scoffed at him before she walked away. They ate their food, Dean, practically stuffing the burger down his throat. After somewhat finishing their food, they picked their newspapers up and looked for a possible case.

"Hey Dean, I think I got something. In Geneva, New York, there are apparently miracles happening all over. Tumors disappearing right before surgery, the blind being able to see again, the senile becoming completely sane. Tons of miracles. They're calling it 'The Blessing'." Dean laughed slightly.

"Sammy, we have to find Lucifer. No breaks. We can not afford them. We need to find him before he decides that it is time to get dressed for prom!" Sam shook his head, "What we need to do is take a break. We are running ourselves ragged looking for him. We don't have any leads at the moment, so we should go do something normal."

Dean smirked at Sam. "Since when has there been anything normal for us?" Sam glared at him as Dean took a bite of his pie. After swallowing, he looked Sam in the eye.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you have a point. Alright," he took a large last bite of his pie, "les ro hare den." Sam shook his head and groaned. "I can't believe I am related to you." Dean smirked, his mouth full of pie and stood up as he put on his jacket.

After paying for their meal, they left the diner and headed out to the Impala.

* * *

 

One hour into the 1½-hour ride to Geneva, they heard a flutter of wings and the impala swerved to the side as Dean saw Castiel in the back seat out of the corner of his eye.

"Dammit, Cas! Stop doing that!" Dean huffed as he straightened the car.

"My apologies Dean. Do you have any leads concerning Lucifer?"

"None. It was decided that we need a break though, so we are taking a normal case." Cas nodded in understanding. "I see. Where are you headed?"

"Little place called Geneva. It is big on its wineries. Apparently a string of miracles have been occurring. People spontaneously being healed. People being saved out of no where. Impossible coincidences."

Sam turned and looked back at Cas, "We thought that this might be a little up your alley due to the miracles part. Any ideas?" Cas sat quiet for a minute, contemplating. "An angel possibly. Or a blessed one, but a blessed one has not lived in a very long time, so I doubt that that is the case."

Dean grimaced, "Great. More friggin' angels. Like we didn't have on our plates already." Cas looked down in shame and sadness. Dean caught his mistake surprisingly quick and frantically added, "Except for you Cas. Pretty sure you are the only angel that I don't have a problem with." Cas looked up at him and gave a barely visible smile.

"May I accompany you for this case? If an angel is involved, I may be of some service." Sam nodded and Dean gave a slight laugh as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Dude, you're always helpful even when angels aren't involved. You are like the special little secret weapon," Dean turned and looked back at Cas. "I don't have any problem with you coming along." Cas settled back into the car as they completed the drive.

When they arrived, they went to a hotel and booked a room. The room was a blank tan with two queen sized beds a table a chair, a small tv, a mini fridge, and microwave.

After dropping their stuff on their respective beds, Sam turned on the tv.

"-ast night, another miracle occurred on 42 Castle Street. 16-year old Maria Hachet was hit by a bus and was flung across the road. She walked away without any injuries. The doctors are yet again stumped by this phenomenon. Other people who have experienced these miracles said that it felt as if someone had physically protec-" Dean turned the tv off and turned to look at Sam.

"Looks like we know who to visit tomorrow. I'm gonna go take a shower. You do your research thing and see if there is anything else that this could be besides an angel." Dean left the room and Sam turned to get his computer and saw Cas standing at the door.

His head was tilted to the side inquisitively as he stared at nothing..

"Cas, you alright?" He turned his head toward Sam. "I'm fine. Just thought I felt something. It is not of import." Sam nodded his head and grabbed his laptop. Sam logged on and searched for things that could create miracles.

Dean walked out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist. He was towel drying his head and as he lifted his head, he saw Castiel standing next to the door still. His back was completely straight as if he was awaiting an attack.

"Cas, man. You alright?" Sam looked up at Dean and then looked at Cas, becoming worried as he saw why Dean had asked.

"I feel it again . It is familiar yet not, as if it was part of a dream... It is rather surreal."

"What does it feel like?"

"...angelic grace. To be specific, an archangel's grace," he tilted his head again in a way that was uniquely Cas. "The strange thing is, I have been near all of the archangels at least once. I know the feel of their grace. This grace... I don't recognize it. It is incredibly powerful." Sam stared at Cas in confusion. "What does that mean?" Castiel turned to Sam, his expression completely serious.

"I don't know."

Dean grabbed his clothes and headed back to the bathroom, but turned back at the door. "Sammy, look up some info on archangels. Look for inconsistencies," He slipped into the bathroom and closed the door only to come back out a moment later fully dressed. "Maybe there is something about the archangels that we don't know."

"You may not know it Dean, but I would." Cas walked over to the chair and sat down. "I am a still a member of the heavenly host. We know all there is to know about the archangels. There is nothing you can find on Sam's computer that I do not already know." Dean lounged on his bed as he looked at Cas.

"That may be so, but there is no harm in checking whether or not there is something we don't know, Cas." Castiel nodded and Sam stood up and dropped his laptop in Dean's lap.

"You can look for the unknown information. I need to take a shower." Sam walked toward the bathroom, but turned around sharply. "Don't watch any porn! Or read it for that matter!" He turned back around and continued to the bathroom and took his shower, while Dean researched. After a little while, Dean closed the laptop and set it on Sam's bed.

"Cas, is there anything about the archangels that we should know that you haven't told us?"

"Anything that I have not revealed about the archangels is not of import." Dean looked at Cas, his expression slightly doubtful. "I believe that there might be something of import, as you put it, but you do not think that we need to know."

Sam walked out of the bathroom and sat on his bed. Dean looked at him quizzically. "That was quick. Did you not give extra care to your luscious locks, Sammy?" Sam glared at Dean and then turned to clear his bed.

"No, you were just too busy to notice that twenty minutes went by." He sat down on his bed, gun in hand, and turned to Cas. "You staying or going?" Cas sat still for a moment before replying, "I will stay and research. It seems that whatever is causing these miracles is an unknown." Sam nodded and laid down as Dean placed the knife under his pillow and laid down with his hand curled around the hilt. They were both asleep within seconds.

"Good night."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please comment/review/subscribe! Love you all!


	3. Guardian Angels

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 3: Guardian Angels  
Written by RippleInThePond 

* * *

 

"Up and at 'em, Sammy! Wake up!" Sam jerked out of his sleep to see Dean on the bed next to him cleaning a semi-automatic shotgun. Castiel was sitting in the chair, staring off into space again. Dean followed his gaze and turned back to Sam and continued to clean his gun before switching to a carbine rifle.

"He's been like that all morning. Hasn't said a word. I think he's feeling that archangel mojo from last night." Dean looked up at Sam quickly. "Get ready to go. There is a diner up the street." Sam got up at got ready to leave and then walked over to Cas. "Dude, you okay?" Cas looked up at Sam. "I feel... sad. It is not my own sadness though. This grace is full of sadness and loss, and yet my grace yearns for this grace. It is strange and I do not understand what it going on with me." He looked down at his hands for a second before standing up. "I assume we are leaving?"

Sam nodded. "There is a diner up the street. You can come with us if you want." Cas gave a small smile before walking to the door and seeing Dean already sitting impatiently in the drivers seat. He popped his head out the window. "You girls ready to go yet?!" Sam snorted and walked to the door as Cas got into the backseat of the impala. Sam popped the trunk and dropped his bags in before getting into the passenger seat.

"Let's go." 

* * *

 

Sam, Dean, and Castiel walked into the diner and a waitress spotted them and walked up to them.

"Table for three?" Sam smiled politely before saying yes and the waitress led them to a booth after grabbing three menus. "Here are your menus. Your server will be with you in just a moment."

Sam and Dean picked up the menus, scanning for something to order as Castiel sat in the booth awkwardly. Dean looked at Cas and then looked back at his menu. "You gonna eat?" Castiel looked at him quizzically. "I do not require sustenance. You know this Dean." Dean snorted. "You may not need food, but it is okay to indulge once in a while." Castiel gingerly picked up the menu and looked for something to order.

After about a minute a man walked up. "Hi, my name is Timothy! I am your server for today, how may I help you?" Sam responded first, ordering a glass of orange juice, whole wheat pancakes, grits, and a side of fruit. Dean rolled his eyes before ordering coke and the meat lovers omelet. The waiter turned to Cas and Castiel looked up at him. "Uh, I'll take a glass of water and the philly cheese steak omelet I suppose." The waiter jotted down their orders and walked away. He soon returned with their drinks.

"So Cas, what can you tell us about the archangels?"

"...most of it you already know. They are the most powerful angels and can only be killed by another archangel's angel blade. There are four of them. Michael, the obedient son and leader of the heavenly host. Raphael, the healer although he has changed very much. Gabriel, the messenger of heaven gone trickster. And lastly there is Lucifer, the Morningstar and wayward son. They are the four most powerful angels and they hold authority over all the angels and we have to obey their commands. They are our superiors."

Sam turned to Cas. "Is there any possibility that there is an archangel we do not know about?" Castiel shook his head. "It is impossible. All the angels know each other even if we have never met." Dean took out his phone and called Bobby. "Hey, Bobby, we need your help. We're in a bit of a mess with what appears to an archangel. Can you help us out?"

"You know, one of these days you idjits might just learn to leave those angels alone!" Dean heard a crash on the other end of the line. "Balls!"

"You okay, Bobby?"

"I'm fine. Just fell out of the freaking wheelchair. I'll do some research and tell you when I got somethin'."

"Alright, thanks Bobby." Click.

Timothy walked up with their meals and the rest of breakfast continued in silence. After they finished eating, they went to the cashier and paid before leaving, picking up a newspaper on the way out.

The three of them loaded into the impala and Dean turned to Sam."So, where does this Maria Hachet live?" Sam opened up the newspaper and scanned for the article. "81 Hickman Drive." Dean started up the impala and they drove away. 

* * *

 

Dressed in a suit and tie, Dean and Sam walked up to the house as Castiel waited in the car as he had no badge. Sam raised his hand and knocked on the door. After a few moments, a woman opened the door and peeked her head around.

"May I help you?"

Sam looked at Dean quickly before turning back to the woman. "Does Maria Hachet live here?" The woman's eyes turned to slits as she looked at them suspiciously. "What's it to you?"

"Well, ma'am, we're with the Finger Lakes Times and we were wondering if we could interview Maria." The woman didn't budge and glared at them. "They already came by." Sam smiled as charmingly as possible. "We know, but they asked us to come by and clear a few things up." She sighed and opened the door before turning around. "Maria, get your butt down here! There are some more reporters who want to pick at your brain!"

The sound of footsteps came from upstairs and a young girl with brown hair walked down the stairs. The woman walked away and Maria led them to the living room. "I'm sorry about my mom. She's always been a bit bitter, but she seems to have gotten worse. Would you like anything to drink?"

They shook their heads and Sam took a notebook from his pocket. "What do remember from the accident?" Maria sat down on the seat across from them. "Not much. I remember the impact. I remember the fear that I wasn't going to make it. Then I remember realizing that nothing hurt, that I wasn't hurt. That's about it." Dean leaned forward. "Do you remember anything strange from before or after the accident? Cold spots, weird smells?"

"Um, no. But the day before som-" Her mother stormed into the room. "Don't you dare say it! Miracles don't happen! You! Got! Lucky! That is IT!" Maria stared at her mother before leaving the room. Sam followed Maria as Dean stayed behind to talk to the mom. Maria went outside and sat on the steps of the porch and Sam sat next to her.

"You know, that isn't even the worst that she has been. I sometimes wonder if that is even my mom anymore." Sam stared at her before replying. "I'm sorry... Maria, what were you going to say before she stormed in?" Maria sighed and rubbed her neck before turning to look at Sam.

"The day before the accident, my friends and I decided to try something. There is this woman who lives on the edge of town. Most people don't really know about her as she kind of secludes herself from the outside world. Anyways, people say that she can make miracles happen, so we decided to try it. You know, if she's phony, nothing will happen and if she is the real deal, someone might be safe. When we went to her house, she said that my friends' souls were impure and that she couldn't give them a miracle. She looked at me and said that it was incredible that my soul was still pure with some of the things that I had been through. She said that she could bless me for twenty-four hours if i wanted to. I agreed and then she laid a hand on my shoulder. I felt this warmth spread through me from her hand. It was really warm, like a jacuzzi. But, like a jacuzzi, it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like pure safety and comfort." Maria ran a hand through her hair and began picking at the threads in a hole in her jeans.

"Twenty-two hours afterwards, the bus hit me, and I thought I was going to die, but then the warmth raced through me and I was fine." She laughed. "You probably think I'm nuts, huh?" Sam shook his head. "No actually, I don't." He stood up and extended a hand to her. After she grabbed it, he pulled her up and shook her hand. "Thank you for talking with me. Would you mind telling me where she lives?" Maria shook her head. "Not at all. 115 Tin Can Alley. Can you do something for me though?" Sam nodded. "Sure. What is it?"

"My mom won't let me leave the house except for school. Can you tell her thank you for me?" Sam smiled down at her. "No problem. Thank you for your help." Maria shrugged and went inside as Dean walked out. "You get anything from the girl? The mom was incredibly unhelpful."

Sam walked towards the car. "Yeah, apparently she saw this woman before the accident who blessed her. She gave me the address." Dean smiled. "Awesome!" He walked around to the driver side and slipped into the car as Sam sat in the passenger seat. Cas looked between them. "Did you get anything?" Dean nodded. "An address. We're heading there now."

* * *

 

"This is it. 115 Tin Can Alley." Sam, Dean, and Cas got out of the car and walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. A blonde woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties opened the door and then looked at them, her gaze freezing on Castiel. She looked at him sadly before turning back to the Winchesters.

"Hello boys. I guess you're looking for me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Please comment/subscribe!


	4. The Secrets We Keep

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter Four: The Secrets We Keep  
Written by RippleInThePond 

* * *

 

Sam looked at the woman who had opened the door. She had blond hair and blue eyes and was a bit on the shorter side, but she looked completely normal. Then again, a lot of monsters do. "May we come in?" She nodded.

"Yes, you could Sam. And so could your brother Dean. But, Castiel... I'm afraid he couldn't even get through the door." She waved her hand and angel sigyls appeared on the walls. Sam froze and Dean put his hand on his gun as he glared at her.

"How do you know our names?! How did you do that?!" She laughed, her head tilted back. "Sweet heart, I may be in hiding but I'm not out of the loop. I know everything that Heaven knows about the two of you. You can put your toys away. They wouldn't even make a dent. It would be like attacking a stereotypical vampire with a toothpick. And I simply just wanted them to appear, and voila!" They looked at each other and Dean took his hand off of the gun.

She stepped outside and looked at the three of them. She walked over to the couch on the porch and sat down before snapping her fingers and willing some rose tea and sugar cookies to appear. With a small pop, they appeared on the coffee table.

She leaned forward and grabbed a cookie and then waved a hand in front of her creating a white couch. "Have a seat." They walked over and cautiously sat down, cautiously watching her as they got comfortable.

"Honestly, I don't bite. You don't need to act like I'm going to tear your throat out. I'm not going to hurt you." Dean snorted and looked at the cookies and tea. "They aren't poisoned, you know."

They still didn't move and they kept their eyes on her as she groaned. "We really aren't going to get anywhere with you tiptoeing around me. You really need to relax." They still watched her and then deciding that she wouldn't attack, relaxed a little.

Sam picked up a cookie, took a small bite, and looked at her. "Who are you?" She gave a sad smile and looked at Castiel. "Once upon a time, every angel in heaven could have answered that question. Especially you, Castiel." She gave an empty, bitter laugh and looked down at her lap.

"Then my brothers betrayed me and I lost everything and everyone that I loved." She looked up at them and her body shimmered as her hair faded to a shiny black and her eyes became the color of opals. "My name is Lyriel, and I am an archangel."

Castiel started. "That is not possible. There only four archangels!" She smiled softly at him. "My name means lyrics of God. Who do you think wrote the songs for the heavenly host?" Castiel got a blank look in his eye as he tried to think about it. "Metatron?"

Lyriel shook her head. "Metatron merely wrote what was dictated for him by our father. The words on his pages are not his own. They are never his own." Castiel looked at her. "If you are an archangel, why can I not feel your grace?"

She smirked at him before he closed her eyes and a wave of power slammed into Castiel. It encompassed his body and he shivered at its presence. Even Dean and Sam were slightly affected. After a moment, the wave of power receded until it was nothing.

"I lock my grace behind a wall because of how strong and overpowering it is, even for humans. That is why you couldn't sense it." She glared at Sam. "Then someone decided to let Lucifer out of his and start the apocalypse. Him being out is pulling at my grace, telling me to fight and it is making it harder to contain my grace within myself. I have had to do those little bouts of miracles to keep it from exploding, and even then it still leaks through." Castiel looked at her, completely befuddled. "How can you be an archangel? I would know you!"

Her face dropped as tears welled in her eyes. "It is because of how I was betrayed. The other archangels betrayed me. When Father decided to create the humans, I was the only one of the five of us to actively support the idea of humans. They saw them as disgusting and imperfect. I saw them as a work of art, full of potential. I thought that they would be beautiful." She leaned forward and picked up a teacup, and poured herself a cup before leaning back.

"We were all rather young back then, and they thought that me thinking differently was turning against them, so they did something we had vowed to never do to each other." She took a sip of her tea and looked up at them.

"They erased me. I had been on a mission and when I returned, I learned of what they had done. They had taken all memory of me and gotten rid of it, replacing it with new ones in people's minds. My name was eradicated from all texts," she turned and looked at Castiel. "And my loved ones forgot me." Castiel looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.

"Castiel, when you first formed, none of the garrisons would take you. None of them wanted you because of your wings." Sam cut in. "Wait, his wings? You can see them?" Lyriel turned to Sam. "Yes, his wings. You can't see them for reasons that you already know. I am an angel, so I can see them. They are like that of a raven. A blue so dark it is almost black and when they catch the light they shine." She turned back to Cas.

" I took you in and raised you. I was the only archangel at that time to take in a newly-formed angel. After they erased me, your memory of me was erased and you were placed into a garrison. We weren't like a mother and a son. Our relationship was like Sam and Dean's here. The older sibling raised the younger sibling and they were close."

Dean raised his hands. "Hold up. Let me get this straight. You're an archangel, but everyone forgot about you and all knowledge of you was erased because of the other archangels? Not to mention you practically raised Cas!"

"Yes."

Castiel looked at her, his face full of disbelief and shock. "Is there any way for me to regain my memories?" She shook her head and groaned. "Yes, but no. You can get your memories back, but the only person who can give them back is the one who took them in the first place and we have no way of knowing which archangel that was."

She closed her eyes and leaned back, creating an uncomfortable silence. "Dean, whatever you have to say, spit it out. I can feel you staring at me and it is making me extremely uncomfortable." The silence lasted a little longer before Dean spoke up.

"Will you come with us and help us on cases? Having an archangel on our side in a fight would be really helpful." She lifted her head back up and glared at him.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to drop my life here and follow you around like a little puppy dog who you sic on monsters." She shook her head. "No thanks." Dean laughed with a bitter smile. "From what we can tell, you don't have a life here. Besides, we are getting our butts kicked out here!"

Sam hit his brother. "You should try to be nicer to the person who can obliterate you!" She laughed. "Nice to know at least one of you is polite." Lyriel walked inside and came back out after a moment carrying two duffel bags and a medium sized backpack. Sam looked at her, completely confused. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, and I was planning on joining from the minute I saw you standing on my porch. I can't keep hiding. Besides, it would be nice to use my grace more freely and get back in the game. But if you think for one second that I am your lapdog and you can walk all over me, you are in for a big surprise."

She turned and walked down the steps. "You boys coming or not?" Both Winchesters and Castiel were completely astounded. They hadn't actually expected her to willingly help. Especially after Dean was a complete and utter jerk.They stood up and looked at each other before running down to the car.

Lyriel tossed her stuff in the trunk and then slid into the backseat, Castiel right next to her. Dean and Sam up front per usual.

"Hey, can you play Led Zeppelin?" Dean laughed and turned toward her. "Hon, you and I are gonna get along just fine." He laughed as Sam groaned, grabbing a casette and putting it in.

There was one thought racing through all of the boys' heads. 'Looks like we have an archangel on our side." 

* * *

 

"Lyriel?" Lyriel looked up and Castiel was looking at her from the couch of the three-full room that they were in at a hotel. "Yes?" He looked at her apprehensively, as if unsure that he should continue. "... can you tell me about it? You raising me, those things that I don't remember?"

She smiled and nodded before walking over and sitting down next to Castiel. "What do you want to know about?" Castiel lit up as if he were a child again and not angel who was over 1,000 years old. "Everything. I want to know everything."

"Well, one of the biggest stepping-stones was your first step. Most angels are taught to fly, but I taught you how to walk first so that if you fell down, you could get back up. Of course, that meant crawling first. I remember setting you down, maybe two feet from me. Your wings just rested on your back." She laughed, lost in the memory.

"You looked at me, completely befuddled on why I put you down. You glared at me before trying to crawl. You just laid flat. It was a week until you actually got on your hands and knees. It was three more weeks before you even moved towards me. Oh, you were so annoyed. I could feel it in your grace." Her face softened into a small small.

"When you took your first step, it had been about 2 months from when we began. Your look of complete joy and pride. It was incredible." She got very quiet, tears slowly making their way down her face. "Not long after that, I began to teach you to fly. Before we really got anywhere, I was assigned a mission. When I came back, you didn't remember me."

She curled up into a ball. "It hurt. A lot." She got up and went to go lay down on a bed but Castiel hugged her from behind. "I'm sorry." She began to cry softly. "I know." She softly removed his arms and then laid down on the bed.

"Good night, Castiel."


	5. Channel Surfing (Part 1)

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 5: Channel Surfing (Part 1)  
Written by RippleInThePond

* * *

 

"So, why do you sleep?" Lyriel turned to Sam. He was sitting at the table on his laptop, looking for a case. "Huh?" Sam shut his laptop and turned to Lyriel. "Castiel never sleeps, but you had us get three beds and you went to bed last night. Why?"

Lyriel shrugged nonchalantly. "I was created with a physical form to contain my grace. I need sleep and food, just a lot less often than humans. I need to sleep one night a week and eat twice a week at most to be fully energized. If necessary, I can go without for a whole month. " Sam looked at her completely confused.

"That's your true form? We are looking at the real you? Not a vessel?" She smiled, manifested an ornate silver dagger and she began to clean it. "Yup. This is me. I was made with a body, which caused me to be ridiculed by other angels for a rather long time. No one knows why I was given a body. Maybe it was so that I could put emotion into my music, or maybe it was so that I would not care about appearance and not be bothered by Castiel's wings. Honestly, I find them beautiful. But yes, this is the body I was given to contain my grace." She tilted her head to the side.

"I guess it is sort of like a true vessel. Well, except for the part where I came with it and there is no one else in here. And I require things that normal angels don't." She laughed. "I'm gonna go check out some clothing ideas. Be right back." Lyriel walked out of the hotel room as Sam went into the bathroom to take a shower and change. When he came out he saw Dean staring intently at two people lip-locked on the screen.

"What are you watching?" Dean gave a quick look at Sam before turning back to the screen. Sam snorted as Lyriel walked back into the hotel room "And when did you hit menopause?" Dean gave an affronted look. Lyriel looked at Sam, her face filled with fake confusion. "I thought you knew. Dean hit crazy-old-cat lady a while ago!" Sam and Lyriel busted out laughing as Dean glared.

"Ha ha, very funny. You ready to go?" Sam nodded as Lyriel snapped her fingers. Her entire image shimmered as her appearance changed. She had a cream form-fitting blouse that was slightly ruched around her waist with a navy blazer and a pair of slacks to match. She had a light gold chain and around her neck as well as cream ballet flats. A gun holster appeared under her jacket along with a pure white petticoat that was draped over her arm.

Her hair turned a strawberry blonde that cascaded down her back. Her face became slightly more angular and her eyes turned a crystal blue that was rare in eye-color. She then looked at Dean. "I'm ready to go." To their surprise, her voice had changed as well. Before, it had been a light, pure lilting sound. Now it was rounder and deeper. Dean shook his head. "I will never get used to that." Lyriel smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Honey, you haven't even seen the least of it."

She put on her coat and flicked her hair out from underneath it. Dean and Sam grabbed their stuff and she walked out after them. As they got into the impala they went over their course of action. Sam and Dean would go to the police station as FBI agents and flash their badges around. Then, she would come around as the attractive and collected reporter who wanted to see if there was anything that they would tell her that they hadn't told Sam and Dean.

When they arrived at the station she made herself invisible and walked down the block a bit to an alley before making herself visible again and walked toward the police station. When she arrived she flashed an ID that she had created as she gave her sweetest smile. "Hi, boys. I'm with The Inquirer and I was wondering if you could tell me about your little accident with the bear attack. It sounded utterly horrible."

The sheriff nodded. "Many of the townspeople are rather scared that it will happen to them, but honestly, and this is horrible to say, but I think that he deserved it. It was a rather extreme punishment, but he wasn't exactly the greatest person in town." She tilted her head to the side as she pretended to jot notes down in a matchbook that she held. "What do you mean by that?" The sheriff shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I am not at liberty to really speak about people's offences." He looked down at his watch. "Sorry, miss, but I have to leave." She nodded in understanding and watched him as he left. She walked outside and sat in the back of the impala. When Dean and Sam came in they had faces of complete disbelief. Lyriel smiled. "Well, apparently you heard something interesting too." Dean nodded and Sam turned and looked at her as Dean drove them back to the hotel.

"The vic was allegedly attacked by the Hulk." Lyriel's eyes went a little wide. "The Hulk? The Incredible Hulk?" Sam nodded. "Well, it appears that your tidbit is more interesting than mine. Apparently the sheriff feels that the vic deserved it." Sam's eyes scrunched together. "Why?" Lyriel shrugged. "I dunno. I do know how we can find out though."

* * *

 

Dean sat at the table researching as Lyriel finished up her shower in the bathroom. Sam opened the door to the hotel and Dean looked up. "Find anything?" Sam raised his eyes as he slowly walked over. "Well, I saw the house." "And?" Sam gave a slight laugh. "And there is a giant 8-foot sized hole where the door used to be." Dean raised his eyebrows. "A Hulk-sized hole?" Sam sighed as Lyriel walked in, drying her still-blonde hair with a towel. "Maybe. What do you got?"

Lyriel walked over to stand next to them. "Well, while you were gone, Dean decided to be a big boy and research." He scowled slightly at her. "Shut up. Anyways, it turns out that Bill randolph had quite the temper. Uh, he's got two accounts of spousal battery, bar brawls, and court- ordered anger-management sessions. You might say, you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Sam gave a small laugh. "So, a hot head getting killed by TV's greatest hothead. Kinda sounds like just deserts, doesn't it?" Dean gave a small smile and took a swig of his now lukewarm beer as Sam chuckled.

"It's all starting to make sense." Dean looked at him in befuddlement as Lyriel's eyebrows scrunched as they replied at the same time. "How is it starting to make sense?" Sam gave a slight laugh while at them speaking in unison before responding. "Well, I found something else at the crime scene." He stuck his hand in his pocket and dropped what was in it on the table. "Candy wrappers. Lots of 'em." Dean picked up the wrappers and looked at them. "Just desserts, sweet tooth, screwing with people before you kill them" Dean slowly turned around as he stood up, Sam walking past him toward the beds. "We're deali-"

"We're dealing with the Trickster?" They both turned to her, surprised that she knew. "I've been here a lot longer than you boys. I know at least what you do, if not more." Sam shrugged. "Sure looks like." Dean nodded. "Good. Been wanting to gank that mother since Mystery Spot." Lyriel sat down on the bed. "I'm not so sure you should." Dean looked affronted. "What? Why not?!" Sam looked him. "I think she has a point." Dean gave an annoyed growl. "The son of a bitch didn't think twice about icing me a thousand times!"

Sam raced to console him. "I know. I know." Dean raised his arms as he began to lose his temper a little bit. "Well, if you don't want to kill him, what do you want?" Sam gave a slight pause before he shrugged. "To talk to him." Dean's eyes widened. "...what? You want to talk to him? Seriously?! Why would we talk to him?!"

Lyriel sighed as she got annoyed. "From what I've heard of the Trickster, he likes to party; wine, women, music. He is also rather powerful. Maybe he likes it here and would like to keep it from getting roasted. Considering we this is the apocalypse, we need all the allies we can get." Dean was shocked. "The Trickster is a bloody, violent monster, and you two want to be facebook friends with him? Nice, guys." She glared at Dean. He opened his mouth to continue, but Sam interrupted his little rant as he raised his hand.

"Tell you what Dean, if he refuses, then we can kill him." He turned to Lyriel and then back to Dean. "Deal?" They both muttered a quiet "Deal." Dean looked at them. "Well, how are we gonna find the guy anyway?" Sam folded his arms. "Well he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show."

They set about to making weapons to fight the Trickster when the walkie talkie went off. "Uh, dispatch I got a possible 187 out hefe at the old paper mill on route six." Sam picked the walkie talkie. "Hey, guys." A man responded to the previous. "Roger that. What are you looking at there son?" "Honestly walt, I wouldn't even know how to describe what I'm seein'. Just send everybody." The other man, Walt, quickly responded. "Alright, stay by your car and stay calm. Help is on the way." Sam turned of the walkie talkie.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "That sounds weird." Sam turned to him. "Weird enough to be our guy?" They shrugged. Lyriel stood up to go, but Dean pulled her back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't go!" She looked at him, insulted. "Why not?!" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Because if something goes wrong, we need you to be the cavalry." She shook her head. "I won't stay here. I'll go to the building, but I'll wait outside, okay?" Dean paused, considering it before sighing. "Fine. Let's go." They piled into the impala and drove to the location.

They arrived at the old mill and stepped out before looking around. Dean raised his arms as he walked to the trunk. "There was a murder and there's no police cars-- nobody. How does that look to you?" Sam pursed his lips. "Crappy." Dean opened the trunk of the impala and grabbed two flashlights and two stakes, handing one of each to Sam. He turned to Lyriel. "Remember, stay here. If we are gone too long, come in and be the cavalry." She nodded. At that, Sam and Dean turned away before slipping inside the building.


	6. Channel Surfing (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all my fellow Superwholockers, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 6: Channel Surfing (Part 2)  
Written by RippleInThePond 

* * *

 

After the first hour, Lyriel began to get worried. After the second, she began to chew her nails. Then, after three days had passed and she couldn't get in the warehouse, she called to Castiel for help. He showed up after a little bit and she informed him of what was going on. He opened the door with ease and they stepped inside after she completely masked her grace and changed her appearance to blonde with a pixie cut.

They stepped in to find Sam and Dean on a game show, their feet secured to a platform, pole with a ball attached lie on the platform in a mechanism. They turned and looked at them. "What're doing here?!" She ran up to them. "You've been missing for days! We're here to get you out." Cas stepped up to place his hands on their heads, but he disappeared and Lyriel found herself dressed up like the other females; in a revealing devil outfit.

She growled and crossed her arms over her stomach. Sam pulled off his jacket and threw it to her and she graciously put it on. "Thanks Sam." He nodded and the host shook his finger. "Mister Trickster no like pretty boy angels." He turned to Sam, pulling out a card. "Sam Winchester, anata ga anata jishin no kyōdai no ue ni eranda akuma no namae wa nanidesu ka?" Sam and Dean looked at each other and then at Lyriel.

"Do you speak Japanese?!" She nodded. "He asked who th-" a piece of duct tape appeared over her mouth and her hands were tied behind her back. The host turned to her and shook his finger again. "No cheating." Sam turned to him. "Sir, I don't understand Japanese!" The host sighed. "Anata ga anata jishin no kyōdai no ue ni eranda akuma no namae wa nanidesu ka?"

He turned and looked at Dean. "What should I do?" Dean flailed his hands. "You think I know?!" Sam turned to the host. "Sir! I-I don't speak Japa-". A bell went off and the host groaned. "The correct answer was, Ruby! I'm sorry, Sam Winchester." Sam whipped his head back and forth between Dean and Lyriel. "Sorry for what?!" They shrugged and the machine whipped the pole up, hitting Sam right in the groin. "Nutcracker!!!"

Dean raised a fist towards his mouth and Lyriel winced. Dean leaned over a bit. "Sammy, you okay?" He groaned. "Yeah, I'm good." His voice was strained and high pitched.   
The host turned to Dean. "Dean Winchester, aanata no kyōdai ga umareta koto ga nakatta baai wa, anata no ryōshin wa mada ikite irudarou ka?" Dean looked at them, his face full of terror.

"What should I do?! I don't want to get hit in the balls!" Lyriel shrugged and Sam was still clutching his crotch in pain. "Dude, I don't speak Japanese!" Sam paused. "Wait wait wait! I played a doctor!" "What?!" "I-in Doctor Sexy, I played a doctor. I operated."

Dean looked at the countdown in fear and then back at Sam. "So?!" "S-so I played the role the part the Trickster wanted me to play. Maybe we just go along with it!" Dean looked at him as he panicked. "Go along with what?!" "The game! I mean, we're on a gameshow right? Just answer the question." Dean looked at the count-down and it had reach 6 seconds. "In Japanese?" "Yeah!" "I don't know Japanese!" "TRY!!!"

"Dammit!" Dean slammed his hand down onto the button as the timer reached zero. "Kotaeha... iesudesu?" The host looked at the card. "Iesudesu?" Dean looked at Sam, shrugged, looked back the host and nodded. "Iesudesu." The host turned to the crowd. "Dean Winchester..." Dean winced and the host threw the cards in the air. "Nutcracker champion!!!" Sam leaned over. "How did you do that?" Dean whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "I have no idea." Sam got excited. "So that's it! We play our parts, we survive." Dean looked over at Sam. "We play our roles for how long?" Sam looked nervous. "Good question."

A young woman doing yoga came onto the screen. "I've got genital herpes." And old-man came onto the screen. "I've got genital herpes. A group of men playing basketball appeared and two of the were Sam and Dean. Lyriel sat to the side in a sundress eating an ice-cream cone. Sam looked at the camera. "... seriously?!" Dean jogged over. "Hey, you're the one who said that we had to play our roles, so..." He pointed to the camera as Sam sighed.

"I've got genital herpes." The woman appeared again in a lotus pose. "I tried to be responsible." The old man appeared looking at his wife before looking at the camera. "Boy, did I try." Sam cringed at his line. "But now, I take twice-daily Herpexia to reduce my chances of passing it on." Dean did a voice-over, listing possible side effects as the young woman and old man appeared on screen with silent parts. It came back to Sam, and he groaned internally. "I'm doing all I can to slightly lessen the spread of...of...uh, genital herpes. And that's a good thing." He gave a tight smile before turning away and grabbing the ball.

  
Sam, Dean, and Lyriel suddenly found themselves being thrown around. They landed on a grating floor. A column in the middle of the room pulsed up and down, a golden glow permeating the room. A man in a brown pinstripe suit bounded around the corner. He ran up to Lyriel. "Up you go Rose! Come on, Mickey and Jack! Time's a wastin'." He grabbed Lyriel's hand pulling her up.

She wore a purple leather jacket with jeans, and the strange man bounded out of the doors, pulling her along as Dean and Sam struggled to follow. They ran outside and found themselves in a world that looked like a storm frozen in time.

Lyriel let go of the man's hand and walked slower until she ended up between Sam and Dean. They looked down at her, their eyes begging for an explanation. "This is the BBC show Doctor Who. That man up there is the Doctor, I know, odd name. He is an alien called a Time-Lord. Based on your qualities," she pointed to Sam. "You are Mickey Smith, the awkward third wheel and Rose's ex," she pointed to Dean. "And you are Captain Jack Harkness, the attractive bisexual player." She looked between them.

"Play your parts." She then ran up to the Doctor, interlocking their fingers and laying her head on his shoulder. Sam and Dean looked between each other, the same thoughts running through their heads.

Greeaaat.

They ran to catch up with them and once they caught up, they found themselves surrounded by men holding spears. The Doctor looked at them, his face chipper. "Well, looks like we found the natives!" He turned to natives. "Take us to your leader!" Lyriel/Rose groaned. "Do you always have to do that?" He grinned down at her down at her. "Yup!"

They were led to a rustic village within the ice full of huts. They were led to the largest hut and Lyriel used her abilities to send a shrouded message to Dean and Sam's minds.

"Guys, seriously?! Play. Your. Parts!!! Oh… you don’t know your parts. Well, Dean, flirt. Turn to women or men or both and say hello as if you are propositioning them. Sam, act nervous yet excited. Now! And as an afterthought, until this is over, call me Lupa. We don’t want any archangels to learn that I am here. Even the smallest slip of the tongue can carry." They entered the hut and there was a beautiful woman on a throne, draped in thick furs. Dean tilted his head to the side and gave his most charming and flirty smile.

"Hel-lo!" The Doctor groaned. "Not now, Jack!" Dean turned to the Doctor. "But, I was just saying hello!" The Doctor shook his head. "With you, it is never just a hello." Sam shivered. "Uh, Doc, what's going on?" The Doctor looked at Sam before turning back to the woman who appeared to be analyzing them.

"The natives caught us. This is their leader. She is possibly a shaman or a queen." She tilted her head. "Prophetess, actually. Who are you to trespass on my lands?" The Doctor bowed as Lyriel did a curtsy and Sam and Dean followed the Doctor's example, bowing at the waist. The Doctor looked up at her and looked back down.

"I am the Doctor. These are my companions. We are here for adventure." She gave a cold empty smile. "Then adventure you will have." She turned to her guards. "Kill them," she turned back to the group before smirking. "But, give them a headstart."

The four of them jumped up and ran, the Doctor leading the way back to the tardis. They got back inside, their hearts pounding. They kneeled down, their eyes closed as the Doctor sent them into the time vortex. The sound of the time-rotor disappeared and they suddenly found themselves somewhere else. There were black fleur de lis on the wall, a yellow smiley face painted on the wall. There were gunshot holes in the wall.

They were sitting on a couch, two men opposite them in their own chairs. The taller one leaned forward, placing his fingers on his lips. "Tell me what happened." Lyriel's widened as she realized where they were and what was going on.

"Boys, we are in the BBC show Sherlock. The tall one is Sherlock Holmes. The blonde short one is John Watson. Play along. We have to act like I need his help. You are my supportive friends. Follow my lead."

Lyriel curled into a ball, insecurity all over her face. "I heard him come in, I was in the living room which was two rooms over. I hid myself in the entertainment center. I had been meaning to fill up the cupboard underneath, but I kept forgetting. I heard him walk by the cupboards and I heard him load things into a bag."

Sherlock stood up and began to dial Lestrade. "Right, this is a job for the police." She widened her eyes. "You don't understand. Everything stolen can be replaced. I didn't come here for you to help me. I came here to help you!"

Sherlock raises his eyebrows. "Help me? How?" She cleared her throat. "While I was hiding, I heard him talking to someone. It must've been over the phone seeing as I couldn't hear the other person. He mentioned you too. Anyways, he said a name. Moriarty. " She looked Sherlock in the eyes.

"Do you know that name?" Sherlock nodded. "What I don't get is how someone small and meaningless like you knows it." Dean and Sam placed a hand on Lyriel's back as her eyes began to water with crocodile tears. Sam looked up at him. "Look, she was just trying to help you. You don't have to be rude!" Dean look glared at the man and John looked at them.

"I am sorry about him. He is rather insensitive." Dean snorted, and suddenly he found himself making a sandwich. An invisible crowd laughed as he looks at the sandwich before falling silent.

"I'm gonna need a bigger mouth." The crowd laughed again. Sam walked in and the crowd whooped. "What's up, Sammy?" Sam walked closer. "Oh nothing, just the end of the world." The crowd laughed and Sam saw the sandwich. "You're gonna need a bigger mouth." Dean made a motion, saying 'I know, right!' Sam walked closer and pointed slightly at Dean.

"So Dean, done any research?" Dean made a slightly nervous face, glancing at the bathroom before turning to Sam. "Oh, I did all kinds of research. All night." Sam gave a slightly surprised face before making an appreciative noise. Then, a woman came out of the bathroom as Lyriel walked in, the crowd making cat calls.

The stranger gave a flirty smile. "Oh, De-e-ean. Don't we have some more research to do?" Lyriel quickly commented. "Dean, you're gonna need a bigger mouth." Sam put his hands on his hips at the same time and looked at Dean like a parent looking at a disobedient child. "De-ean." Dean looked out at the crowd.

"Son of a bitch!"

Sam glared at Dean as Lyriel walked over to the girl and began leading her out. I am terribly sorry, sweetheart, but three of us have got work to do." The girl looked at Lyriel. "But we did do work." She looked back at Dean. "In depth." The crowd did more cat calls and whooped. Lyriel walked up to them as Dean walked closer to Sam. "How long do we have to keep doing this?" Lyriel whispered back, "I don't know. Maybe forever?" The crowd laughed. Sam leaned in. "We might die in here." The crowd laughed even harder. Dean turned and glared at them. "How is that funny?! Freaking vultures."

Suddenly, Cas burst in through the door of the imaginary motel room, cut and his nose bleeding. They rushed to ask him where he went, but he cut them off. "There isn't time. This thing, its more powerful than it should be." Dean raised his eyebrows. "What, the Trickster?" "If it is a Trickster." Sams looked at him completely confused. "What do you mean?" Cas was about to respond, but he was flung against the wall by an unseen force.

The Trickster appeared and Lyriel let out mental cry of pain as she saw him. Cas stood up, his mouth covered in duct tape and he turned towards Lyriel, seeing in her eyes the masked agony that he had suspected would be there. It suddenly disappeared as she blocked her emotions. The Trickster didn't notice and he turned to Cas. "Heya Cas!" He waved his hand and Cas disappeared again.

Sam looked at the Trickster. "How do you know him?" Dean took a defensive step forward. "Where did you send him?"the Trickster smirked at them. "Relax, he'll live. Ma-aybe." He looked at Lyriel. "And who is this lovely lady who is traveling with you?" Sam and Dean looked at her surprised that he didn't realize that she was angel before realizing that the glamour was hiding more than just her appearance.

She glared at him, keeping her facade. "This lovely young lady is going to cut your head off if you don't stop looking at her like she's a meal." He laughed before looking at the brothers. "I like her!" He looked back at her. "She's got spunk!" She glared harder, this time for real. Dean stepped forward. "Alright, I'm done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it!" The Trickster tilted his head to the side slightly. "Yeah? Get what, hotshot?"

"Playing our roles, right? That's your game?" The Trickster leaned forward slightly. "That's half the game." Lyriel looked at him annoyed. "What's the other half?" He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers in the air. "Oh, they have to play their roles out there." Dean looked at him confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know!" He pointed to Sam. "Sam starring as Lucifer!" He pointed to Dean. "Dean starring as Michael!" He pointed to Lyriel and got a confused look on his face at the anguish that showed on her face at their names. "You know, you still didn't tell me who you are?" The anguish disappeared and she looked at him enraged. "Who I am is none of your business!"

He raised his hands in defense. "Okay!" He turned to Dean and Sam again. "Anyways, the celebrity death match! Play your roles." Sam glared at him. "You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?!" The Trickster smiled. "Hells yeah. Let's light this candle!" Lyriel glared at him. "If they do that then the world will end!" The Trickster turned to Lyriel.

"Oh, yeah? And whose fault is that? Oh, right! Its theirs." He turned to the Winchesters. "Look, its started. You started it! It can't be stopped, so-o lets get it over with!" Dean looked at him. "Heaven or hell, which side you on?" The Trickster shook his head. “I’m not on either side.” Dean smirked. “Yeah right. You’re grabbing ankle for Michael or Lucifer. Which one is it?” The Trickster scoffed. “You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don’t work for either of those S.O.B.’s. Believe me.”

“Hmm. Oh, you’re somebody’s bitch.” The Trickster grabbed Dean by the collar and turned around quickly, pinning him to the door behind him. He glared at him as he got close to his face. “Don’t you ever, ever presume to know what I am.” Dean looked over to see Lyriel close to tears and he realized something. She hurt talking about this, but she kept looking at the The Trickster as if she knew him and had been betrayed by him.

Dean looked at him in surprise. ‘Could it be…?’ The Trickster let him go and put his finger up. “Now, listen very closely. Here’s what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities,” he turned back to Dean. “And play the roles that destiny has chosen for you.” Sam looked at him apprehensively. “And if we don’t?” The Trickster smirked as he looked back at Sam “Then you’ll stay here in TV Land. Forever.” He looked at Lyriel. “You, on the other hand sweetheart, are free to leave whenever you want. This isn’t your concern.”

She walked closer, her eyes burning holes into his head. “Oh, believe me when I say, sir, that this is my concern.” He shrugged. “Well, there’s 300 channels and, uh, nothing’s on.” He snapped his fingers and they were suddenly at a crime scene. Dean and Sam were wearing suits and glasses while Lyriel had been forced to wear a revealing police woman outfit. They all glared at their outfits. Dean groaned. “Oh, come on.” He turned to Lyriel who appeared to still be in shock. “Hey, you okay?” She looked him in the eye and saw his true question. “Gabriel? Yeah… it was. Act as if he was still the Trickster, though. You can’t let him know that you know.”

“I’m always okay.” Sam and Dean nodded in affirmation. A man walked up to them. “What do you think?” Dean huffed. “What do I think? I think go screw yourself. That’s what I think.” Sam raised a hand. “Can you give us a sec please?” The man nodded and walked away as Sam turned Dean around. “You got to calm down.” Dean looked at him. “I gotta calm down?! I am wearing sunglasses at night! You know who does that? No-talent-douchebags.”

Lyriel punched him in the arm and whispered under her breath. “At least you don’t look like a hooker!” Dean ignored her, but Sam gave a sympathetic look. “I hate this game. I hate that we are in a procedural cop show and do you want to know why? Because I hate procedural cop shows! There’s like 300 of them on television. They’re all the freaking same! It’s all ‘Ooh a plane crashed here.’ Oh shut up!” By now, Sam had started ignoring him and had turned away. He called out to Dean. “Hey.” Dean turned to him, fuming. “What?”

Sam pointed to the man from earlier who was sucking a lollipop next to the victim. “Check out sweet tooth over there.” Dean turned around. “You think that’s him?” Sam began to walk away. “Just, um, follow my lead.” He turned to Lyriel. “You coming?” She shrugged. “No badge. Can’t cross. Besides,” she pointed down to her outfit. “I am not going to even try kneeling down in these to examine the body.” They nodded and walked towards the crime scene, slipping on their glasses.

They strutted over to the body. The man sucking the lollipop pointed to Dean. “You, uh, you okay?” Dean put his hands on his hips and replied in a gravelly voice. “Yeah. What do we got?” The man took the lollipop out of his mouth and pointed to the body. “Well, aside from the ligature marks around his neck, he has what appears to be a roll of quarters jammed down into his throat.” Dean had taken off his glasses as the man spoke and Sam took off his glasses when he was done for the moment.

“Well, I say… jackpot.” The man continued to suck on his lollipop as he grunted. Sam put his glasses back on and then the man continued. “Also, there was a stab wound to the lower abdomen there.” Dean picked up a stick that lay beside him and knelt down as he lifted the shirt to look at the wound as Sam took his glasses off again. Dean put on his sunglasses. “Well, I say… no guts, no glory.” The man chuckled as Dean walked away slightly. Sam put his glasses back on. “Get that guy a… tums.” The man laughed again and Dean looked over at him.

“Gutterball.” The man began to laugh again and took the lollipop out of his mouth, not seeing Dean walk behind him. “That’s a good one guys.” As he turned around, Dean stabbed him with the stick he had used to pick up the victims shirt, piercing the heart. Dean pulled the stick out and the man fell to the ground as he died. A cop standing behind Dean behind to laugh and then he cackled. “You got the wrong guy, idiot.” Dean tilted his head to the side. “Did we?” Sam crept up behind the Trickster and stabbed him in the back. The Trickster fell to the ground, seemingly dead. The image of the warehouse returned and Lyriel walked up to them, dressed in normal clothes. “Not over yet boys. But, for now, play along.” They returned to what seemed to be the hotel room they had booked before TV Land. They all laid down on their respective beds, ready for some rest.

The next morning they prepared for the day and Sam was nowhere to be found. Eventually they went outside and got into the car after Dean had called Sam again. Lyriel, for once, sat in the front seat. “Dean? Ly-Lupa?” They looked around. “Sam? Where are you?” They heard his voice again and then they saw it. “I’m not sure. Oh, crap. I’m pretty sure that the Trickster isn’t dead.” Lyriel scoffed. “No kidding?” “Okay, guys. Got any holy oil?”

* * *

 

Dean poured a circle of holy oil as Lyriel sat on the hood of the car. Dean walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk, placing the can inside. “Dean?” “What?” “That, um, feels really uncomfortable.” Dean slammed the trunk closed. “Ow. Uh, are you sure that this is going to work?” Lyriel nodded. “It will work.” Dean walked up in front of the car and raised his head and yelled. “All right, you son of a bitch! Uncle! We’ll do it!” Dean turned and looked at Lyriel sitting on the hood of the car.

“Should I honk?” Suddenly, Gabriel appeared and walked up to the car. “Wow, Sam, get a load of the rims on you.” “Eat me.” The Trickster whistled and walked away to stand in front of Dean. “Okay boys, ready to go quietly?” Dean looked at him, his eyebrows scrunched together slightly. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast, Trickster. No one is going to be going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs again.” The Trickster shrugged. “What’s the difference? Satan’s gonna ride his ass one way or another.” Dean glared at him and the Trickster rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers. Sam stepped out of the passenger seat and glared at the Trickster. Lyriel got off of the hood and went to stand next to Dean.

“Happy?” Dean pointed to the Trickster. “Tell me one thing. Why didn’t the stake kill you?” He pursed his lips. “I am the Trickster.” Dean looked him in the eye as Lyriel flicked on the lighter. “But maybe you’re not.” She dropped the lighter onto the holy oil, creating a ring of holy fire around the Trickster. He looked at the circle surrounding him as Dean continued to stare at him. “Maybe you’ve always been an angel.” The Trickster laughed.

“A what? Somebody slip a mickey in your power shake, kid?” Dean smiled. “I’ll tell you what. You just jump out of the holy fire and we’ll call it our mistake.” He laughed a little bit before going stoik. Suddenly they were in the warehouse, for real this time. He began to clap. “Well played, boys. Well played.” Dean smiled. “Actually, I believe you should be saying ‘Well played, sweetheart’.” The Trickster turned to Lyriel. “You figured it out?” She shrugged, not trusting herself to say anything. He turned back to Dean. “Where’d you get the holy oil?” “Oh, you may say we, uh, pulled it out of Sam’s ass.” Sam swallowed as he looked at Dean slightly. The Trickster looked between the three of them. “Where’d I screw up?” Sam shrugged. “You didn’t. But, nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did.”

“But, mostly it was the way you talked about the apocalypse and the end of the world.” The Trickster tilted his head to the side. “Meaning?”. “Call it personal experience, but I am pretty sure that no one will get that angry unless they are talking about their own family.” Sam looked him in the eye. “So, which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?” He turned his head to Sam, and replied in a voice that seemed to show the weight on his shoulders. “Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel.” Lyriel spoke up, acting as innocent as possible. “Gabriel? Like, Archangel Gabriel? Messenger of Heaven, Archangel Gabriel?” She snorted and glared at him, releasing some of her pain from what he had done into her gaze. “How the mighty have fallen. So, how does an archangel become a trickster?”

“My own private witness protection. I skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, and I even carved out my own little corner of the world. That is, until you two showed up and screwed it all up for me.” Lyriel smirked a little bit. “And what did Daddy say when you skipped out of twon and joined the pagan gang?” He looked at her, a little surprised at her resentment before responding. “Daddy doesn’t say anything about everything these days.” Sam interrupted Lyriel from responding to what he had said. “Then what happened in heaven? Why’d you ditch?” Dean snorted.

“Well, do you blame him? I mean his brothers are heavy-weight douchenozzles.” Gabriel turned and glared at Dean. “Shut your cakehole. You know absolutely nothing about my family. I loved my father. And my brothers, I loved them. But watching them turn on eachother?! Tear at each other’s throats?! I couldn’t bear it! So, I left, alright. And now, I have to go through it all over again thanks to you two little pieces of crap.”

Sam leaned towards him a bit. “So help us stop it!” He lolled his head over in Sam’s direction and glared at him. “It can’t be stopped! Don’t you get it already! It can’t be stop-” “Where is Castiel?” He turned to Lyriel who had interrupted him. “Excuse me?” She glared at him. “Where? Is? Castiel? I’m not a simpleton. You zapped him away, ergo he is wherever you want him to be. Bring him back. Now!” He glared back. “You interrupted me!” She crossed her arms. “Yeah, I did. No one wants to hear you whine about your family, Gabriel. We don’t want to hear your ‘I can’t do anything speech’! We don’t want to hear that you just want it to be over, Gabriel. It could have been over long ago. Now, where is Castiel?!”

He glared at her before snapping his fingers and Castiel appeared, a little bloody and cut but otherwise fine. Sam turned to Lyriel as Dean helped support Cas. She saw his questioning look. “He would’ve kept rambling. He would’ve gone on about destiny and why the two of you were chosen. If you really want to know, ask me later.” He nodded and then went to support the other side of Castiel. He turned and looked at Gabriel. “Looks like we are done here.” Sam, Dean, and Cas began to walk away.

"Hey you just gonna leave me here?!" Dean turned around and saw Lyriel standing behind next to Gabriel still.. "Nope, but I think that you have some business to take care of before you get to leave. Oh, and Gabriel. This isn’t about the fact that two brothers betrayed each other. This is about you being unable to stand up to your own family." Dean, Sam, and Cas walked out of the warehouse as Gabriel screamed profanity at them. He hadn’t noticed that Lyriel was still there. Lyriel kneeled down silently as he sat down in the ring of holy fire. She cleared her throat and he whirled around.

"What the hell are you still doing here?! And for that matter, who the hell are you?!" She looked at him confused and then remembered her glamour and the fact that she had hidden her grace. "Oh, right." She closed her eyes and shimmered. She turned to her usual form and opened her eyes to see him staring at her.

He walked over as close as he could and knelt down to get a closer look. Almost instantly his cheerful maniacal facade collapsed, instantly replaced with a face of guilt, sorrow, and horror as he realized who she was and that she had been here the whole time. He whispered, afraid of what would happen if he spoke above a whisper. "...Lyriel?" She gave him a soft smile, but it was empty and cold and it shocked Gabriel to the core. "Hey Gabe. It has been a while, hasn't it?"

He nodded, his body numb. "Wh-what are you doing here?" Her face adapted a cold and menacing glare as she practically snarled. "Fixing our brothers' mistakes. This war doesn't have to happen. Hell, you guys just want to destroy Daddy's creations! Let me guess, if you can't have him, then he can't have them." He shook his head vigorously. "No! That's not it at all! And I am not on with the Host anymore."

She smiled condescendingly. "Oh, Gabby, you don't just leave the Heavenly Host without falling." Then she gave a sarçastic smile full of anguish. "Well, unless you're me that is." She fell backwards on her heels to a cross-legged position and began to nonchalantly pick at her nails. "While we are on that subject, mind telling me why exactly I was erased? I don't recall doing something so grievous to justify doing that to me. Your own sister."

Gabriel dropped his head into his hands. "I-I... I don't know." She smiled again, this time as if she was a lioness about to catch her prey. "Well, I do! You see, Dean was right. You are afraid to stand up to your family. You. Are. A. Coward. Gabriel." She stood up and twirled in a circle. "Look where your cowardice got me." She looked down at him as he knelled on the floor, head hung in shame.

"I would have been safe if just one of you had said no. Just one. But, you were too afraid and as a consequence, I lost everything." She kneeled down again and looked him in the eye. "If there is any part of you left that is honest, then I ask you this." Her hand fisted in her shirt as she looked at him. "Look at me!" He lifted his eyes and she saw the guilt in his eyes and the fire raging within her turned to but an ember.

"Gabe, who..." she swallowed. "Who took Cas' memories?" The guilt and his eyes multiplied ten-fold. He looked down and her question was answered. Her eyes filled with tears as she quickly backed up, putting a hand to her mouth. "Y-you? You took him from me?!" Her voice cracked. "You knew! You knew what he meant to me! You knew how much I loved him!" The ember turned into a bonfire as the tears poured down her face. Her face was full of rage and pain that was beyond measure. "Why?!" She fell down to the ground in front of the ring and buried her head in her hands as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Gabriel reached a hand out as if to comfort her. He stopped as he remembered the ring of holy fire and it dropped limply onto his lap. There was a long and uncomfortable silence before he sighed. "Lucifer had wanted to be the one to do it, to spite you. I volunteered though. I-I figured that you would rather that I did it than Lucifer." He looked at her. "I wanted for Castiel to one day regain his memories. I knew that I was the only of the four of us who would ever do it." She began to cry harder and the ring disappeared. She threw herself onto his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

After a while, her sobs stopped and she spoke to him softly. “Come with us. Help us fight this. This doesn’t have to happen.” She leaned back and looked him in the eyes. “Please.” His face fell and he looked down. “I-I… I can’t Lyriel.” He looked back up at her and saw as her face fell and she locked her emotions behind a vault and she stood up. “Looks like you are still afraid to stand up to your family, Gabriel. Thing is, you have never had to stand up to me. I had never given you a reason to.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead. She stood back up and let her grief wash over and let him see it in her eyes. “Goodbye, Gabriel.” She disappeared with a flutter of wings, leaving Gabriel kneeling on the ground. A tear streamed down his face as he let out what he thought might be his last goodbye to her.

“Goodbye, Lyriel.”


	7. Remember Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like Lyriel so far! Love ya!

The Lies We Tell  
Written by RippleInThePond  
Chapter 7: Remember Everything

* * *

 

Cas stood in the forest behind the hotel that the Winchesters and Lyriel had decided to stay at. He admired every tree and plant, but his heart ached at every piece of trash that littered the place. He was bending down to pick up a bottle that lay on the grass before hearing a flap of wings and looking up sharply.

Gabriel stood before him, staring at him with a look of pain and shame. Cas glared at him. "What are you doing here?!" Gabriel smiled softly before walking toward Cas. "I'm here to fix my mistake." When he reached Cas, he reached his hands out and placed them on Castiel's head.

With a burst of light, Castiel remembered everything that he had been forced to forget. He remembered Lyriel taking him under her wing. He remembered being just a fledgling, laying in her arms with their wings curled around each other as they slept. He remembered the first steps that she had forced him to take.

He looked at Gabriel in anger as he regained what he had lost, but he stopped when he saw the mournful and sorrowful expression on his face. He bowed his head slightly in a nod of appreciation. "Are... are you going to help us?" Gabriel silently shook his head. Cas gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Gabriel." Gabriel gave a small smile before flying away.

* * *

 

Lyriel sat on the bed in the hotel. Dean was out getting food and Sam was taking a shower. She heard a flap of wings and looked up to see Castiel standing in front of her smiling at her lovingly.

"You're wrong, you know. I wasn't annoyed. I had been completely livid." Lyriel scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion and Castiel stepped forward, giving her a hug. She froze in shock before hearing him whisper in her ear.

"I remember. I remember everything." Lyriel felt her heart break and mend as she raised her hands to his back, afraid to hope. Castiel smiled as he squeezed her tightly. "Hello, sister." Lyriel let out a sob and gripped him tight. "H-how?"

Castiel rubbed her back in affection as he felt her body shake with tears. "Gabriel. He appeared to me a little while ago and restored my memories," he leaned back and looked at her quizzically. "What did you say to him after we left?" She sniffed and wiped away her tears. "Oh, you know. Yelled at him for abandoning me. Found out he took your memories. Did some crying. Made him feel guilty for leaving me and taking away your memories."

Cas laughed slightly. "I think you got to him." She gave a watery smile. "Yeah." Lyriel hugged Cas again and squeezed. "I'm so glad to have you back." Dean walked in and froze. "Uh, what did I miss?" Without breaking the hug, Cas replied. "I have my memories back. Gabriel had been the one to take them. He restored them a little while ago."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Really?" Cas nodded. "It is strange as I now have conflicting memories. Although, now certain things make sense." Lyriel lifted her head and looked at him. "Like what?" Cas gave a sad smile. "Now I understand why I couldn't stand singing." He looked at Lyriel. "For some reason, it always made me feel, and every time I always felt sad." Lyriel laughed.

"Looks like the heart remembered what the mind had forgotten." Sam walked out of the bathroom and was drying his hair with a towel. He looked at Cas and Lyriel, his face full of confusion. Dean spoke before he could ask. "Cas got his memories back from Gabriel." Sam's eyes widened a bit before he nodded. He then looked back at Cas. "Is Gabriel on our side? Is he going to help?"

Cas shook his head. "No. He is still afraid." Lyriel stood up and then walked towards the bathroom to take a shower. Dean saw what she was doing and started. "Hey! Its my turn!" She looked back at him and smirked. "Too bad, and don't whine like a baby. It is unbecoming of a man." She walked into the bathroom and Dean walked over to Cas.

"What was she like, in heaven?" Cas' eyes brightened slightly. "She was incredible. You think the music you hear is good? You haven't heard her sing." He got a wistful smile on his face. "She used to sing to me, in heaven. I didn't need sleep, but she did and I would lay with her and she would sing to me before she fell asleep. She is the embodiment of the phrase 'having the voice of an angel'."

Dean gave a small smile. "What is your favorite new memory?" Cas' eyebrows scrunched together as he thought about it. "I think that my favorite memory would have to be when she took me down to Earth. I couldn't fly or walk yet, so she carried me down and showed me the Earth. It was completely beautiful. There wasn't this gas polluting the air nor cities that decimated fume wildlife. I remember it perfectly."

"The sky had been a bright blue without a cloud in the sky. It was late spring and the plants were vibrant shades of green, blue, red, yellow, orange, and other colors that I can name. The air was warm and comforting. The mothers of the animals were taking care of the and teaching them how to walk." He smiled as the memory filled his mind. "We stayed there the whole day. We traveled the Earth and saw many beautiful things. The most beautiful, though, had to have been the sunset. We were on a cliff with a lake below us that was surrounded by a beach. The sunset was all shades of purple, blue, red, and orange." He gave a small laugh. "We got into so much trouble when we returned, but I will never regret that day. It had been incredible."

* * *

 

After she closed the door to the bathroom, Lyriel spread her wings and flew. She followed Gabriel's grace and landed in front of him. He was sitting in a large elaborate room with a large bowl of various candies. He had a sucker in his mouth when she appeared and he looked up at the sounds of wings.

"Lyriel. Hello." She quickly walked over and sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around him. He tentatively raised his arms and laid them on her back. She nuzzled his neck and he felt the tears on her cheeks. "Thank you." Gabriel smiled softly and tightened his arms around her. "Am I forgiven then?"

She sat up and looked Gabriel in the eyes. "I suppose. But, I am still upset." He rolled his eyes with affection before raising his hand and wiping her tears away. "Cas remembers. This is why I had wanted to do it. So, one day you could be happy again, Lyriel. You are my sister, and I love you. I betrayed you, and this is me trying to make up for what I did; what we all did. Lyriel, am I forgiven?"

She hugged him and whispered in his ear. "I forgive you, Gabriel. I completely forgive you." She gave a small laugh. "There's only a slight problem though." Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "And what could that possibly be?" She sat back up and looked him in the eye before cradling his face with her hands. "You can't forgive yourself." Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.

"Don't deny it. Gabe, I know you. I know how you act. I know that you haven't forgiven yourself. This whole facade as the Trickster? Its merely an attempt to hide your pain and fears." She hugged him again. "I was hurt. I thought I could never forgive you or that I would ever heal. But, Gabriel, I am glad it was you because you are right; they would never have tried to fix it. Gabriel, I am healed and I forgive you. Its time for you to do the same."

Gabriel closed his eyes and laid his head against her shoulder and after a few moments replied with a broken voice. "Why are you upset? I fixed it didn't I? Why? Why didn't I fix it completely Lyriel?" She laid a hand on his head and began to stroke his hair. "You may be trying to fix it, but it still happened. It all still happened. I was alone for a millenia. I was called a freak, outsider, and monster. I was an outcast from all societies and I couldn't return to heaven." She grabbed his head gently and lifted it to her eye-level. "You can't erase your mistakes, Gabe. I was completely alone and that painful time for me will always be a part of my memories. The most you can do now is makeup for your mistakes, and you have. But, the pain still remains and even you can't remove it."

He curled his hands into bottom of her shirt as tears as tears began to stream down his cheeks. "I-I... I'm so so sorry. I-I wish I could f-fix my mistake. I... I don't deserve your forgiveness, sister." She laid a hand on his cheek and wiped away his tears. "Everyone deserves forgiveness brother, especially you, and you have it." She hugged him and he raised his arms to embrace her. "I love you, Lyriel." She smiled and rubbed his back. "And I you, Gabe." She laid a cheek on his shoulder as she became aware of her weariness caused by her emotional stress. She closed her eyes as she began to fall asleep.

"Thank you, Gabe.


	8. Come if Convenient (Part 1)

The Lies We Tell   
Written by RippleInThePond  
Chapter 8: Come if Convenient (Part 1)

 

* * *

 

Dean, Sam and Lyriel jumped out of the car and ran toward the building up ahead. Lyriel had changed her appearance again and she looked like a ginger this time. As they ran, Dean stared in shock at the multiple impalas. As they reached the steps of the building, they say Chuck pacing back and forth. He looked at them in surprise.

"Dean? Sam? What're you doing here?" Chuck looked at Lyriel. "Who is she?" Dean and Sam looked shocked as they were dumbfounded to why Chuck didn't know her; he should have seen her in his visions. They remembered that she had changed forms again and this was a completely new one. Sam opened his mouth to speak, but Lyriel cut in.

"My name is Lyriel. I'm just a friend." Dean looked at Chuck. "What's the emergency?" Chuck looked at him completely befuddled. Dean sighed exasperatedly. "You texted us, saying that we needed to come here and it was of the utmost importance!" Chuck looked at them completely confused still. "I didn't t-" Realization shown in his eyes. "Dammit. Becky must have gotten ahold of my phone. She mus-"

Sam looked at him, horror covering his face. "Wait a second... Becky?! Obsessive, creepy, over-enthusiastic Becky?" Chuck cringed. "Yeah." Becky ran out and squealed. "You came!" Sam whispered in his mind, _"Lyriel, help me!"_ Lyriel laughed silently before leaning over grabbing Sam's arm lightly and leaning against him, looking as if they were a perfect couple.

Becky's face crumpled into an ugly glare. She stomped up to them and glared directly at Lyriel. "Who are you?" Lyriel calmly looked at Becky before leaning into Sam more before nuzzling his arm. "Lupa." She looked up and smiled at Sam sweetly. "But Sammy calls me Lulu." Becky gave a withering glare. "Sam doesn't let anyone but Dean call him Sammy." Lyriel gave a challenging glare. "Sammy let's me call him Sammy. Afterall, I am his girlfriend."

Becky's face became heartbroken and Dean sniggered in the background. Becky turned around and looked at the building and put a facade of excitement. Chuck looked at her. "Did you take my phone?" She looked back at him shamelessly. "Just from your pants. Come on! They are gonna wanna see this!" Sam and Dean looked at each other and then back at Becky. They both replied at the same time, "See what?"

Becky squealed. "I love it when they talk at the same time!" Becky ran up the steps and Sam turned Lyriel and kissed her forehead affectionately before whispering, "Thank you." Lyriel laughed. "No problem, Sammy." She winked at him and he tilted his head back and laughed."Love you too, Lulu." They erupted into a fit of giggles before getting serious and running up the steps to Dean who was looking at them as if they had lost their minds.

They walked inside and were astonished by what they saw. All of the creatures that they had ever taken down so far were inside the room and they saw versions of themselves as well. A guy walked up to Dean dressed like him and said, "Hey Dean!" Dean looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Who are you?" The man raised an eyebrow. "I'm Dean too, duh." Sam turned to Becky. "Uh, Becky. What is this?" She smiled with glee. "Its awesome! Welcome to the first Supernatural convention ever!" Lyriel looked around and noticed that no one was dressed as any angel. She turned to Chuck. "How many books have you released?" He turned to her. "A couple. In the last book, Dean went to hell."

"So you haven't published anything on the angels yet, prophet?" Chuck started and looked at her again before remembering what she had said her name was. "You- you're." She nodded and let her form flicker for a moment. A man dressed as a scarecrow walked up. "Woaaah, how'd you do that?"

She turned and looked at them. "Hologram that outlines my skin. I doubt you would understand how it works." He looked at her affronted before walking away. Becky scrunched her eyebrows before walking up and inspecting her face. "You... you're not human, are you?"

She smiled humorlessly at her. "You're more astute than you appear to be." A twinge of fear got into her eyes, but she didn't back down. "What are you?" Lyriel let her grace flicker in her eyes and Becky backed away as if stung. "Now, why would I tell you that?"

Becky walked away and Sam looked at her in shock due to her rude behavior. She saw how he was looking at her and shrugged. "I don't like people like her. They're desperate to be something more than what they are, but don't bother to try at all. They lean on others for all of the support to push themselves up."

A man asked everyone to go the conference room. People went and took their seats inside the conference room while Dean, Sam, Becky, and Lyriel stood in the back of the room. The man went through the events of the day and then Chuck walked out, announced as Carver Edlund.

"Uh, well, I... dry throat." He grabbed a water bottle and guzzled the water. "Um, questions?" Everyone's hands shot up. Chuck pointed to man sitting towards the front dressed as Sam. "Hey, I'm a big fan. Uh, how did you come up with Sam and Dean?"

Chuck looked back at Dean and Sam awkwardly. "It just sorta, came to me." Everyone's hands shot back up and Chuck pointed to a man in the middle of the crowd with a hook on his hand. "Um, why don't Sam and Dean keep their weapons on a bungee, ja? They're always getting their weapons thrown away at a crucial moment in the fight. And why can't they tell that Ruby is evil, ja?"

Becky fumed and walked towards the man. "If you don't like the books, don't read them!" She backed up a bit and Lyriel looked at Sam and Dean. "Why don't you do that?" They both shrugged and listened to the rest of the questions. Sam and Dean fumed when Chuck announced that they would start publishing again.

After the panel was over, Chuck walked away to get some drinks and Lyriel, Sam, and Dean walked up to him when he returned. "What the hell, man?! We have better things to be doing like finding the colt or hunting the devil!" Chuck sighed as Lyriel sat down on the couch opposite them. "I didn't send you that text." Lyriel looked up at Chuck. "He isn't talking about the text, Chuck. He's talking about the books."

Sam grimaced as Dean yelled again. "Who gave you the rights to our life story?" Chuck looked up at Dean. "An archangel! And I didn't want them!" Chuck turned to Becky. "Would you mind excusing us for a moment?" Becky nodded and the four of them left them room. When they were in an empty room, Chuck turned to them. "Do you know what I do for a living?" Dean and Sam responded at the same time, "Yes."

"Well, then, could you tell me? 'Cause I sure as hell don't. I have no skills I'm not even a good writer. I do this to keep a roof over my head and food in my stomach." Dean opened his mouth to speak when they heard a scream. Dean, Sam, and Lyriel ran toward the scream, ignoring Chuck's plea to stop.

They ran up to a woman on the second floor who was kneeling on the ground. "What happened? What did you see?" "A ghost! I saw a ghost!" Dean came forward a bit. "What did it look like?" "An older woman wearing an old style dress."There was a thunder of footsteps as they heard people come up behind them. People began to ask questions and the woman smiled and raised her hands for a dramatic effect. "Get ready for a terrifying tale of terror!" Dean's face became a blank stare as one thought ran through their heads.

'You have got to be kidding me.'

They walked away and Becky ran up to them. "Oooh, the LARPings started." Lyriel walked away as Dean, Sam, and Becky continued to talk. She went downstairs and went up to Chuck. He was standing in front of a window looking outside. She walked up beside him and sat down on the windowsill, her resting beside her.

"You know, this is the last place I thought I would see you. Pretending to be a prophet. Looking like that. I must admit, you're a better actor than I imagined you'd be." Lyriel smiled and turned to him. "Hello, Father." Chuck gave a small smirk and turned his head toward her slightly. "How long have you known."

"Since the second I walked up and saw you pacing at the foot of the stairs." He quirked an eyebrow. "Really? How?" Her face softened a bit as she smiled with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. "I can always tell when its you. After all, you did spend the most time with me before you disappeared." Her face got a little confused. "I think the real question is, why did none of the other angels recognize you? I know that Castiel met you."

He gave a mischievous smile. "Let's just say that Gabriel got his tricky side from somewhere." Lyriel tilted her head back and laughed before leaning against him. "Its good to see you, Father." He ran a hand through her hair for a moment and kissed the top of her head. "Its good to see you as well, daughter." She looked up at him.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you're pretending to be a prophet." Chuck put a finger to his lips and she smiled fondly while shaking her head. She stood up to walk away when he grabbed her hand. She turned and looked at him and saw the guilt in his eyes. "I'm sorry for not being there for you. For not being there to stop them." She leaned forward and hugged him before whispering. "There's only so much that even God can do. I understand why you left, but I think you could've at least told me."

She released the hug and went to walk away but turned back. "I won't tell anyone, but make sure to come say hi once in a while, okay?" He nodded and she walked toward the bar where she saw the Winchesters. She sat on a stool next to Sam and he pointed to Chuck. "What was that all about?" She looked at his drink before grabbing it and swirling the cup as she watched the ice.

"Let's just say that I needed some answers and he gave me them." He nodded and then they both heard a man nearby who was trying to get his friend to leave with him. "An actor attacked me and then vanished into thin air? I don't think so." The three of them walked up. "What did you see?" The man looked at them. "This isn't part of the stupid game." He turned and walked away, his friend running after him. Lyriel turned to Sam and Dean.

"Looks like we've got a real ghost on our hands boys."


	9. Come if Convenient (Part 2)

The Lies We Tell  
Written by RippleInThePond  
Chapter 9: Come if Convenient (Part 2)

* * *

 

Sam and Dean ran to the impala, Lyriel trailing behind. Dean glared at her as she begged to help them. Sam opened the trunk and began pulling out the supplies that they would need in order to kill the ghost.

“Come on, let me help!” Dean shook his head. “No way. If you use your powers, actually use them, the other angels might sense them. Besides, I already told you. You need to protect the civilians.” Lyriel huffed and turned to walk away, but Dean grabbed her shoulder. “Look, I’m sorry, but this is our best choice.” She looked down. “I know, but whenever something happens, you never let me help.”

She brushed his hand off of her shoulder and walked up to the convention center finding Chuck sitting on a couch, Becky pestering him. She laughed and walked to the bar, taking a seat. Lyriel pulled a notepad out. She began to draw what she remembered of heaven.

There was a lush garden, full of all of the possible plants. She drew herself and the fledgling Castiel, using an image of what she thought Jimmy Novak looked like as a child. Lyriel was sitting a few feet from him, arms out to catch him when he fell as he walked towards her. She drew raven wings on Castiel; puffy and soft. She looked at the progress of the picture and heard someone whistle from behind her. She looked back and saw Gabriel standing behind her. She shot up.

“What are you doing here?! If they see you…” He waved her off. “Those monkeys couldn’t do anything even if they wanted.” He looked at the picture and smiled. “I remember that. I walked up and he face planted right afterwards. Although, Cassy definitely didn’t look like that.” He snickered. He looked back up at her. “I, in all truth, came to find you and ask you about something.” She raised an eyebrow. “I need to know,” he bit his lip. “Please, tell me that the boys didn’t listen to me. Tell me that they aren’t giving in.” Lyriel looked at him in shock. “Why?”

“Because, as much as I hate to admit it, they were right. Those buffoons were right.I was merely afraid; running away. I want to make sure that they don’t give in like I did.” She smiled before shaking her head. “They’re still standing tall, ignoring the fate that Father gave them.” He sighed in relief, smiling. She looked at him, her face lathered in suspicion. “You wouldn’t happen to a ‘wealthy Scandinavian investor’, would you brother?”

He handed her a blue raspberry lollipop before winking and vanishing. She laughed slightly, pulling the wrapper off and sticking it in her mouth. She turned and looked over at Chuck; he was looking at her desperately, Becky completely oblivious. She shook her head laughing and walked up to them. “Chuck? We need to talk.” Chuck quickly got up and attempted to look sorrowful for Becky and walked away with Lyriel. He sighed in relief, putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Thank you, child.” She looked at him seriously as she saw Sam and Dean get to work on finding information. “Father, I wasn’t just trying to get you out of a sticky situation. We really do need to talk.” She grabbed his and pulled him into an unpopulated area. “Father, are you aware that there is an actual ghost at this convention?” He nodded. “I am aware. However, it is currently not an issue.”

Chuck walked back to the hall, cosplayers following and flocking around him. She stood inside the door, watching him answer questions. Suddenly, Sam ran in, running up to the stage and whispering into Chuck’s ear. She listened carefully and was surprised by what she heard.

“We killed the wrong ghost. There are now three murderous ghosts rampaging. Get everyone in here. Don’t let them leave.”

Sam ran back down as Chuck said that he would be answering many more questions. The trio ushered the staff into the room and as they closed the door, Sam and Dean nodded to Lyriel. She returned the nod and shut the door, salting the area. Lyriel stood and watched as the audience began to get bored as Chuck began to run out of things to tell them. An old staff member groaned and went to open the door. Lyriel and Chuck shouted,

“STOP!” He opened the door, breaking the salt as a ghost appeared. Chuck quickly sliced it with iron. “No one leaves this room! Someone resalt this door!” Everyone stood in shock and Lyriel resalted the door as everyone began to realize what was going on. Everyone began to panic and Lyriel ran to the front of the room and screamed.

“SILENCE!” Everyone stopped yelling and looked at her. “My associates and I are handling it. Please, stay calm.” She turned and looked at Chuck.

 ** _“You are out of stories. Shall I tell them truth? Let them know what is really going on?”_** He nodded and she looked at the crowd. “Chuck here told you earlier that in the stories there would soon be angels.” She looked at them and slipped out her angel blade, letting her grace shine through her eyes. They looked at her in terror. “These stories, they are not false. These stories are filled with complete truths, the life of the Winchester brothers. My name is Lyriel, the unknown archangel. Those two men earlier? Those were the Winchesters. The tall one is Sam; the other is Dean.” She looked at Chuck and laughed slightly at the lie she was about to tell. “Chuck is a prophet. He is writing these stories to create the Winchester Gospel.”

She scanned the crowd, and she could tell that they didn’t believe her and she shook her head. One of the men in the crowd shouted. “If you were really an archangel, wouldn’t you have already taken care of this? Or are you weak?” She glared at him, manifesting her wings and glaring at him. She flew in front of him quickly, seeming to disappear and reappear to the humans. He began to quiver and the air became slightly putrid. She went back to the stage and sat down.

“I am staying here to protect you weak humans. That is not an insult, merely the truth. Sit here and wait. As long as you all stay within the salt, you will be fine. You must never reveal any of this information to anyone.” It became silent in the room. Lyriel waved a hand, removing the stain of urine from the man’s pants. There was a long awkward pause and many people began to cry. Lyriel looked at them in sympathy. She removed her wings and grace, regaining a human appearance. “If anyone wants me to put them to sleep, I am willing and you will wake up after this ordeal is over.”

Many people nodded and pleaded as she walked around the room, putting many of them to sleep. Soon, everyone but Chuck and Becky had been put to sleep, but she soon fell asleep on her own. Lyriel sat next to Chuck on the stage and laid her head on his lap as if she were a fledgling again. She saw his prophet persona fall as he once again took on the visage of his true form, God. He ran a hand through her hair and smiled. She looked back at him, but she her face was clothed in sadness and weariness. After some time had passed, she frowned up at him.

“Father, tell me the truth.” He looked at her in confusion. “I do not understand what you are asking.” She sat up and looked at him with a hurt glare. “You know very well what I mean! Why have you set angel against angel once again? Why are you making my brothers kill one another!?” “I would never wish slaughter among my children.” She looked at him, confused. “But, it was written. Written by Metatron, dictated by you.” He shook his head. “I did no such thing. I fear that this is Metatron’s doing. I never ordered for this.” She stared at him stunned as Dean and Sam walked into the room.

“It is done. Surprisingly,” the fake Dean and Sam came out from behind them. “They were the ones to kill the ghosts, not us.” The people in the room began to wake up and one of them called the police. It was now morning and Lyriel stood by the impala as Dean and Sam talked to various people. She stared at the sky, unsure of what to think concerning the so called destiny that the angels had been fed. She went into a daze as Sam and Dean walked up to the car.

“I have got info on the colt.” Lyriel’s head shot to him and glared. “I have told you! That won’t work! The best option is me. The colt was built for creatures of hell, not of heaven. Fallen Lucifer may be, but he is still of heaven.” They shrugged and Dean gave a small sarcastic laugh. “That is awesome of you to say again, but it is worth a shot. If it fails, we can use it to gank some high-class demons.” Lyriel shook her head and slid into the back seat as they drove to a nearby hotel for some sleep.

When Dean and Sam had fallen into unconsciousness, Lyriel slipped out of the room, through the forest, and into a nearby clearing. She looked to the sky, before saying, “Gabe, we need to talk.” There was a long period of silence and Lyriel looked around. She was about to leave, but she heard a flap of wings. She turned back around and Gabriel was sitting on the ground eating an ice cream cone that was the recipe for diabetes. She stormed up to him.

“You’re late!” He shrugged. “I was getting ice cream. The line is very long and I can’t just cut to the front, now can I?” She glared at him a little longer before shaking her head and sitting down in front of him. “Gabe, I found him.” He swallowed his mouthful before taking another lick. “Who?” She gently pushed the ice cream cone down to make him look at her. “Dad. I found father, Gabe.”

He stared at her silent. He then threw his head back and laughed before licking the cone. “Good one. You almost had me!” She stared at him. “It isn’t a joke, brother.” He glared at her and snarled. “There is no way that you found him. He has been gone for millennias. So don’t you dare lie and say that you found him, sister.” He disappeared and she looked at the spot that he had last been standing mournfully. A single tear streamed down her cheek.

“It wasn’t a lie.”

She flew back to the hotel and laid on her bed. Dean was fast asleep, but Sam had woken up at her entry. He listened to her as she began to cry. He got up as quietly as possible before padding across the room and laying a hand on her back to let her know that she was not alone


	10. The Need for Alarm

The Lies We Tell  
Written by RippleInThePond  
Chapter 10: The Need For Alarm

* * *

 

It had been a very quiet week for Team Free Will and everyone was on edge. Sam was constantly checking the weather for strange reports while Dean kept cleaning all of his guns, so much so that Dean eventually just got into the impala and sat there. Cas had popped up a couple times, but it appeared that flying was beginning to become a taxing ordeal and he was searching for Crowley, even though she had told the Winchesters that looking for the Colt was a pointless search.

Lyriel begged Cas on multiple occasions to let her replenish his grace, but he refused saying that this was his punishment for abandoning heaven. She slipped a little in, however, and was given a death glare that would have scared off a normal person. She, on the other hand, glared right back. It was now 4:00pm and finding herself unable to stand the nerves that floated around the hotel room any longer, Lyriel stood and went to walk outside. Dean snapped his head in her direction.

“Where are you going? Did you sense something?” She groaned and shook her head. “No, Dean. But I cannot sit in a room with you two acting like the world is going to end!” She paused as Dean raised an eyebrow at her. “Allow me to rephrase that. You’re acting like someone will pop up at any moment with black eyes and try to kill you.” Dean glared at her and turned away as she left the room.

Lyriel walked to a nearby animal shelter. She walked inside and felt an electric spark run through her as she saw a kitten in one of the kennels. It was pure black with white paws and had heterochromia. One eye was an electric blue while the other had a gray appearance, almost silver. It had polydactylism, six toes on each paw. The fur was unbelievably soft and she sat in one of the nearby chairs, playing with it.

She felt hot breath on her ear before hearing someone whisper, “Nice choice.” She jumped and saw a person behind her; she knew instantaneously that it was a demon from the hideous soul. She pretended that she couldn’t tell what he was for she knew he couldn’t tell that she was an angel. She smiled at him.

“You scared me!” She looked at the cat, perfectly playing the unsuspecting part. “And yes, he is a nice choice. The heterochromia and polydactylism are beautiful flaws. And,” she nuzzled the cat’s fur. “His fur is ridiculously soft.” The man smiled down at her and walked out of the store. She quickly placed the cat in the kennel and followed the man out. She masked her presence, following him to an alley where she watched him slit the wrists of a homeless child there, smiling sadistically as he knew that would take the child longer to die. He swirled his finger in a bowl, mumbling an incantation.

He began to speak. “I found the girl that has been with the Winchesters; she seems weak. Why they keep her around is beyond me.” Lyriel heard a garbled voice reply. _“Bring her to me. Do not underestimate her. That would be fatal.”_ The demon looked shocked, his eyes widening. “But why? It would be better if the Winchesters found her mangled body.” The person on the other end snarled, _“Do as you are told!”_ The demon mumbled a “Yes, of course” before walking back out of the alley. Lyriel hid herself and after he passed she ran to the child.

She placed her hands on the wrists of the child, carefully healing her wounds without alerting anyone or anything to her presence. The child groggily sat up and fear was the immediate expression on her face as she saw Lyriel. Lyriel hugged the child, comforting her before erasing the memories of the events and putting her to sleep.

Lyriel flew to the hotel room and found Dean and Sam acting the same as before. “Someone is looking for me.” The brothers’ eyes flew toward her, the question evident in their eyes. “A demon was at the animal shelter I was at. I followed him after he left and he made a call. Apparently, someone wants me taken to them.” Dean stood up. “Did you kill the demon?” Lyriel shook her head and Dean looked like he was about to explode.

She put a hand up to stop him. “It’s better to let him think he can take me and then take him at the last moment and get some information out of him.” She saw Dean’s fingers twitch at the subtle mention of torture. She looked him in the eye. “I will get whatever information he may have.” Dean got an ashamed look, Sam appearing slightly confused as he had not noticed the twitch. Lyriel turned to Sam. “I need you to draw a demon trap and put a chair and some rope in the middle. I will be back soon.”

Lyriel walked out of the hotel room and walked back toward the shelter. She stepped inside and found it empty minus the demon and one of the caretakers that was, thankfully, not possessed. She walked over to the kitten she had been playing with before and picked him up, cradling him against her chest. The demon walked up and stood behind her. “I was hoping to catch you.” She turned around and smiled at him. “Oh, it’s you! I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”

He smiled guiltily. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out for a drink.” She raised an eyebrow. “Now?” He chuckled and Lyriel felt herself almost cringe. “Yeah, now.” She shrugged, bringing the kitten to the counter. “I’d love to, but I’ll be adopting this adorable little kitten first.” The employee placed the adoption papers in front of Lyriel and Lyriel filled them out, giving the kitten the name “Shadowfax” and buying a kennel and putting him inside. She turned toward the demon and smiled.

“I’m good to go!” She walked out of the store, carrying the kennel and as they passed an alley, the demon pushed her into it. She almost dropped the kennel and she glared at him indignantly.   
“What was that for?” His eyes switched to black and Lyriel made the effort to look surprised. Apparently it worked, for he stalked towards her thinking that he was safe. “What do you want?!” He smiled, his grin making Lyriel’s skin want to crawl. “My employer thinks that you’ll be useful against the Winchesters. I, however, think that they should just find your dead body. But, hey, orders are orders.” He went to grab her and her arm shot out. She grabbed his neck as she revealed her angel status, but he was unable to differentiate between angel and archangel.

He began to look afraid and she flew them to the hotel room, dumping him in the middle of the devil’s trap that Sam had painted on the floor. She shoved him into the chair and quickly tied his hands, legs, and head to the chair. Dean was sitting on the bed and he jumped as she appeared. He saw her holding the kennel and he looked at her blankly.

“Tell me that isn’t what I think it is.” She smirked. “It isn’t what you think it is.” He smirked back. “Oh, so it isn’t a cat or dog or some other helpless animal from the shelter?” She smiled and walked over to Sam as the demon in the devil’s trap began to realize he was in deep shit. She gently pulled Shadowfax out of the kennel and placed him on Sam’s lap. Dean groaned. “Why did you get it?”

“His name is Shadowfax.” Sam snorted. “Like Lord of the Rings?” She nodded and looked at Dean. “I adopted him because he isn’t your average housecat.” Dean looked at her in confusion and she sighed. “He is half of a holy version of a hellcat. How is like that is beyond me.” Dean looked at her disbelievingly. “Hellcat?” She nodded. “Not as well known as the hellhound but yes, they exist. Heaven never did come up with a good name for theirs though.” She walked over to the demon that had been silent during the exchange.

“Taking a girl out for drinks when you don’t even know her name? Scandalous.” He just stared back, not saying a word. Lyriel spoke to Dean without looking away from the demon. “Get out of here Dean. Go get a drink. Sam, take Shadowfax out of here, will ya?” They obediently left and Lyriel turned to the demon. “Now, where were we?” 

* * *

 

Dean returned from the random bar he had found and saw Cas standing outside the hotel talking to Sam and Dean groaned; he was still holding the godforsaken kitten. Cas looked at Dean as he saw him walk up.

“How did you possibly find this cat? It shouldn’t even exist.” Dean growled. “Ask your sister. She’s the one who just adopted the goddamn thing.” Cas looked toward the room that appeared to be silent, but they knew otherwise. “She is… occupied, at the moment.”

Dean looked at Sam. “We can’t take care of a cat! We are dealing with the apocalypse! Plus, I’m allergic to them!” Sam smiled evilly, petting Shadowfax. “I don’t know Dean, I quite like him.” The door opened and Lyriel stood in the doorway.

“You can come in now.” They walked into the room, a smited corpse slumped in the chair. Lyriel waved her hand, cleaning up the body and devil’s trap along with the blood on the floor. She sat down on one of the beds. “Well, it seems that a certain Meg Masters would like to take me into custody so you’ll come rescue me. She has no clue that I’m an angel. In fact, apparently the entire demon population has no idea why you’re dragging me along and they think I’m weak as well as dead weight.”

Shadowfax jumped out of Sam’s lap and into her arms, crossing Dean’s lap, his tail getting in Dean’s face. Dean sneezed and his eyes widened in horror before he sneezed again, this time more violently. Lyriel laughed and walked over, healing his allergy to cats. “Can’t have you using that as an excuse to not keep this little angel.” Dean grumbled and rubbed at his nose. Lyriel sat down at the computer, and turned to the boys. “Get some sleep. We’ve probably got a couple more long days ahead of us.” Sam and Dean murmured in agreement, flopping onto their beds and falling asleep.

Cas walked up to Lyriel and gestured to Shadowfax. “How did you possibly find such a creature?” Lyriel shrugged. “Stroke of luck, I guess.” Cas sighed. “I must be going now. I must find this Crowley.” Lyriel grumbled, a frown on her face. “Searching for the Colt is pointless and stupid.” She grabbed Cas’ arm as he went to fly away. “Be careful.” He took her hand off of his arm.

“Likewise, sister.”


	11. The World Upstairs

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 11: The World Upstairs  
Written by RippleInThePond

* * *

_ Lyriel opened her eyes, expecting to see a drabby hotel room as she woke from her dream. However, she found herself outside of a cabin in a deserted area, curled up under a blanket in a porch swing. Her eyes opened just in time to see a car pull up the driveway. When it came to a stop, Chuck stepped out of the car in a white three-piece suit and waved to Lyriel. As he walked up, she timidly waved back. _

_“You know, it has been a long time since you’ve dream walked. Last time, you came with a shrouded face.” She stood up and hugged him. “So, why are you visiting my dream, father?” They sat down next to one another on the swing and she curled up next to him. “Lyriel, this isn’t your father.” She looked up at Chuck and raised an eyebrow. He chuckled and smiled, looking away. “I am an image created by your subconscious to remind you of a small detail before you forget it; before you fail to investigate.”_

_He closed his eyes and rested his head on top of hers. “If your father didn’t create the prophecy about Michael and Lucifer, who did?” He ran her fingers through her hair in a comfortable silence. The waves crashed on the shore as a bird somewhere fluttered through the trees, a joyful tune erupting. She jerked her head up right as he looked down at her sharply, his eyes black. The dream exploded into flames as Chuck morphed into Lucifer._

_“You know, Lyriel, you were always a pain in the ass. The do-gooder that Father adored, but I can’t believe that you think that Father didn’t order our deaths. You’re so blinded by your love for him.”_

_“He didn’t! He would never!” Astonishment shone in her eyes as she realized who it had to have been; there was only one person that it could have been if God did not order the apocalypse. She looked quickly up at Lucifer and opened her mouth to speak,but Lucifer jammed his hand into her chest and pain exploded in her chest as her sight started to fade away..._

Lyriel jerked upright, her heart pounding with fear, her mouth open in a silent scream. She sat silent for a moment, fear gripping her heart like a vice, before feeling a hand on her shoulder. She yelped quietly and bolted off the bed, jamming her elbow on the nightstand next to the bed and falling the the floor. “Fuck, ow.” She rubbed her elbow for a moment before peeking at the alarm clock, its bright green digits blinking 2:38. She looked up to see who had touched her shoulder.

Sam stood sleepily next to where she had been laying. After seeing her reaction, he rubbed his eyes to make himself more awake. He walked to the other side of the bed and kneeled in front of her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” He asked, concern laced in his voice. She nodded, “I’m fine. Just had a bad dream.” He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Really, Sam, I’m jus―.” Her eyes widened as she remembered her dream, the fear seeping into her eyes. She looked up at Sam. He smirked. “So, not fine?” He stood up and extended a hand. She grabbed it and he pulled her up.

As soon as she was standing, she raced over to her duffel bag and started shoving her belongings inside. Dean groaned from across the room before talking, his words slurred with sleep. “Why are you up? It’s too early for this.” He grabbed a pillow and shoved it on his face, falling back asleep. Lyriel snorted before turning to Sam.

“I don’t have any explanations. I don’t even know where I’m going yet, but I know how to end this bloody war.” She looked Sam in the eye before groaning. “And you are still going after the colt. Great.”

She picked up her bag and handed her key card to Sam. “If anyone decides to almost die, you better start praying. I won’t be answering my phone.” She opened the door and turned to look back at Sam. She smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

She closed the door and stepped outside into the crisp morning air. Lyriel took a deep breath before spreading her wings and flying to the heavens.

* * *

 

Sam stared at the door that had just shut, confusion clouding his senses. He numbly walked back to his bed and laid down, slowly drifting back to sleep. As soon as he was asleep, Dean slowly removed the pillow from his face and stared at the ceiling for a few moments. He would have never admitted it, but he was grateful for the outburst; he had been dreaming of hell.

He slowly sat up and rubbed his hands over his face. He stood up and walked to the door before slipping outside and sitting in the impala. He grabbed a beer and took a slow swig before hearing a flap of wings. He groaned. “Morning to you too, Cas.” He made a toasting motion, but paused mid-way when he heard the angel speak.

“I am not your rainbow, gay angel.” Dean jerked around and groaned as he saw Gabriel. “Get the hell out of my car, man.” Gabriel shrugged. “No can do, man. You see, you and I need to have a little heart to heart. You see, Lyriel came up to me a little while ago and said something that really baffled me.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the tops of the front seats. “She told me that y’all have seen Daddy-O.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “God? She told you that we’ve seen God,” Dean scoffed. “That, is hilarious.” Gabriel went to grab one of Dean’s beers and Dean swatted his hand away. He pouted and conjured a blue, fruity, alcoholic drink with an umbrella and took a sip. “I thought it was ridiculous too, but then I remembered something you told me. You met a prophet, right, Dean?” Dean nodded. “Yeah, Chuck.” Gabriel sighed. “Chuck, Chuck, Chuckitty-Chuck. You wanna know something cool, Dean-O? Angels, we know all of the prophets. Their names, their appearances, even their birthday. So, I took a trip to visit Chuck at a very,very small book-signing.” He took another swig of his drink. “He isn’t Chuck.” Dean looked at him shock. “Excuse me?”

“Again, that’s what I thought. Then, I thought, how could he write these books if he isn’t a prophet. That’s when it hit me! Chuck is God! Next thing I knew, my memory changed, just a little bit. The image of Chuck I met became the actual Chuck Shurley. That is when I became sure.” Gabriel smirked. “Thought you might want to know.” Gabriel vanished, his drink dropping to the floor of the impala.

Dean glowered. “You asshole!!!”

* * *

 

Lyriel arrived in heaven and was immediately grabbed by angels. “Ah, Adonael! Long time no see.” He glared at her. “Who are you? How are you trespassing in heaven?” He looked closer at her and his eyes widened. “What are you?”

“Sorry, no time to chat. Gotta fly!” Lyriel broke out of the angels’ grasps and flew away, laughing at her own joke. She searched heaven for the presence of the archangel she wanted and flew to it. She arrived outside of the heaven of a 15 year old named Barbara who had been killed for homosexuality and walked inside. It was a large library, books as far as the eye could see. Barbara was at the far end, curled up with a book and a cup of what appeared to be tea. Michael and three angels were at a desk in a corner of the library. Michael stood as she walked in, a glimmer of fear entering his eyes before disappearing. He turned to the other three angels in the room. “Leave.” “But, sir.” “Leave.” They nodded and flew away.

Lyriel walked forward and sat in a chair in front of the desk. “Long time no see, brother.” Michael gulped and slowly sat back down. “Why are you here? How are you here? Lucifer should have killed you!” Lyriel stretched, resting her feet on the desk.

“Simply put, I am here for a chat. How I am here, that is another matter. I do know that Lucifer did not kill me, but I should have wasted away from lack of contact with heaven. I suppose that was a gift from Father; my grace is self-sustaining and stronger than it ever was while being dependent on heaven.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. “I highly doubt that you are here for a mere chat.” She smiled, her eyes cold. “Oh, but I am here for just a chat! You see, I found Father and he told me something very interesting. He did not write a prophesy nor did he order for your battle with Lucifer. That got me thinking. ‘What could that possibly mean?’ Then, I understood. Someone lied. Someone created a false prophecy. Someone that all of the angels trusted.”

Michael stood sharply, anger in his expression. “You suspect me?” Lyriel snorted. “Come now, don’t take me for a fool. You are and were too devoted to Father to commit an act like that. No, I don’t believe that it’s you.” She calmly stood and then placed her hands on the desk, her eyes blazing with cold rage.

“Where is Metatron?”

Raphael burst into the room, 5 angels trailing behind him. “Brother, I heard there was an int-.” Raphael stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening at the sight of Lyriel. She turned and looked at him. “Oh, look, the asinine angel has arrived!” Lyriel turned and looked back at Michael. “Maybe he can shed some light to the subject.”

Lyriel threw Raphael into a chair without touching him, and the angels around him back away from Lyriel in fear as she walked towards Raphael. She turned and looked at them. “Leave.” They scampered away and Lyriel turned to Raphael who was still securely in the chair. She threw her hand down and her angel blade came out. Raphael and Michael looked at it with disgust, shock, and anger.

Raphael shouted. “What have you done to your angel blade!? You have desecrated it.” Lyriel looked at it in shock for a moment. It was no longer a blade of a typical angel. Thin silver veins decorated the handle over an opalescent hilt, the blade a silver so pale it could have been white.

Lyriel turned to Raphael. “You think that I made my blade look like this?” She snarled. “I haven’t used my blade since you, my brothers that I loved and trusted, threw me from heaven to rot. My defense came from my grace and my own hands.” She stalked towards Raphael until she stood in front of him and held the blade to his chest, kneeling over the chair. “You know, if I were too kill any of you, it would be you, Raphael. You went along with Lucifer’s plot for kicks. Or, is it because it made you feel stronger than me?” She stabbed his leg and he screamed.

Michael looked at her in fear. “Who are you? You are… you are not Lyriel.” She looked at Michael, the fire in her eyes cooling slightly. “I am Lyriel. I am what you created me to be. I watched nations rise and fall firsthand. I saw death, love, sadness, and joy. I experienced pain and loss more deeply than you could ever understand. I lost everything because of you. I fell in love, had a child, and you killed her because she was different — a nephilim. You threw me into a world that I could not possibly know how to live in, and I was forced to adapt. You expect me to be the same? How foolish of you.” She pulled the blade out and Raphael yelped.

She laid a hand on his wound, her blade still in her other hand, and healed it. Her heart raced with fear, but not of them, but of herself. “I’m not a monster. I have changed, but I refuse to be a cold monster.” Her eyes began to water and she fell to her knees. "I am merely trying to fix that which you have broken.” She began to cry and she released Raphael, her hands shaking as she thought of what she had almost done out of hatred. She fell to the ground in front of Raphael, her head cradled in her hands. She numbly saw Raphael move and heard Michael scream for him to stop as he attacked . She felt the cold tip of his angel blade touch the base of her neck and she felt the world enter into slow motion as adrenaline overtook her senses.

She threw her hand up above her head, pushing arm away from her neck, before grasping his arm, pulling him towards her. She pushed her other hand to his chest, sending her grace into his chest. His grace burned hot and furious against hers. Carefully, she subdued it before sealing it so that it could only be accessed again once he had learned compassion. She sent him into Heaven’s Maze, a long, twisted pathway that one could very easily get lost in.

She leaned her head against the seat of the chair, a gash on her neck slowly leaking blood. Tears continued to stream down her face as she felt Michael lay a hand on her neck and heal her wound. He wrapped an arm around her, wiping away her tears. “We can find him.” She looked at him, confusion in her eyes. He squeezed her and then held her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Metatron. I know not why you need him, but we can find him.”


	12. Fatal Encounter

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 12: Fatal Encounter  
Written by RippleInThePond

* * *

 

Lyriel sat in heaven’s library, her eyes scanning a page in an ancient text in an attempt to find Metatron as she searched for the truth about the prophecy. However, much of the information that she found unhelpful or irrelevant. She gave a deep sigh and rubbed her eyes as sleep began to permeate her senses and creep into the edge of her mind.

There was a quiet flutter of wings as an angel entered the room and Lyriel felt a hand be laid on her shoulder. “Sleep, sister,” Michael whispered. “Exhaustion will do you no good in your search for answers.” She chuckled morosely and rubbed the back of her neck, groaning in pain from the stiffness. “That’s not the only thing that’s evident.”

She tipped her head back to look at Michael. “I envy you normal angels with your vessels that don’t feel pain.” She dropped her head down to the desk. “My neck hurts like a rock.” He smiled softly and leaned over, placing a hand on her neck and massaging her shoulders. She sighed softly and closed the book in her lap, her eyes drifting shut. “You could just heal it, you know?” She said, her eyebrow raised although he couldn’t see it. He shrugged . “I could heal it, true, but taking the mortal route gives me a reason to stay.”

After a short, companionable silence, Lyriel sat up to make it easier for him. “Have you found anything yet?” He whispered a short ‘no’ and dropped his hands to his sides. “Unfortunately, we have not found anything. It has been a long time since he departed from heaven, so many of the trails we could have followed long ago have long been cold.” Lyriel groaned and dropped her head into her hands, leaning over. She ran her fingers through her hair, that was currently light blue to purple ombre, as she sat back up.

“This all feels so hopeless. We will never find him, will we?” She stood up and rubbed her temples. She turned her head back and looked into Michael’s eyes, her own eyes watering with fear and despair. “I will have to watch you and Lucifer fight. I will have to watch one of you die.” A tear silently slipped down her cheek, almost going unnoticed by Michael.

He rushed over and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She froze. “What are you doing?” He shifted uncomfortably as he blushed slightly. “I, um, believe that humans call it a hug. Humans use it to comfort and show affection, right?” She snorted and turned around, wrapping her arms around him.

“This, is a hug.” There was a comfortable silence before Michael whispered, “I feel warm… my grace, not my vessel.” She nodded against his chest. “That, brother, is called love.” She looked up at him. “Angels can feel. I am sure of that after being on earth for so long.” He tightened his arms and sighed.

There was a short silence and Lyriel whispered. “Why’d you do it? Why did you cast me out?” He rested his chin on her head, chest heaving with a sigh. “I like this, hugging.” She growled and looked up at him, fire in her eyes. “Do not attempt to evade the topic, Michael. I can tell that you do not loathe me as you do not, and never have, looked at me the way Raphael and Lucifer once did. You have always looked at me with love and affection, even though you have not quite accepted that angels can feel emotion.”

He stepped back and sat on a nearby sofa, unwilling to reply. He paused. “The Morning Star said that it was right, that we should. I was just foolish enough to believe him.” There was a pause before a sharp ringing filled the room, Lyriel’s phone echoing in the silence. She fumbled through her pockets before she found her phone. She turned around and flipped it open and answered after seeing the caller ID identifying Sam as the person calling her.

“What?” There was a pause as she heard heaving breathing before Sam responded.

 _“Look, I know you told us not to go after the Coltー”_ Lyriel groaned. “You went after it, didn’t you?” Sam sighed. _“Yeah, we did. We got attacked by hellhounds though. Jo is hurt. Bad. We would appreciate it if you would come and save our moronic butts.”_ Lyriel sighed, rubbing her eyes in exasperation. “Where are you?”

 _“Carthage, Missouri. Hardware store. Just deal with the hellhounds. They’re trying to get in.”_ “How many are there?” She could practically hear his bitch-face through the phone. _“We can’t exactly see hellhounds, now can we?”_ She snorted. “No, but I assume that you can make a guess based on the quantity of the barks and how loud they are.” _“... ten, maybe 15.”_ Lyriel groaned. “Great.” She turned back towards Michael, covering the receiver. “Can you spare two angels?” MIchael tilted his head to the side. “Yes, but what for?”

“To save the idiotic, moronic, and impulsive asses of the Winchesters and their friends from becoming dog chow.” Michael snorted before nodding. “Of course.” After a second, two angels named Remiel and Zerachiel appeared, blades ready. “Quick run through, the Winchesters are trapped and surrounded by hellhounds in a hardware store at Carthage, Missouri. One of their companions is severely injured. We go there, find the hounds, and then I get inside the store. You kill the dogsーthere’s ten to fifteen of themー, I save the humans. We clear?” The angels nodded stoically and Lyriel pulled out her angel blade and spread her wings. “Let’s go.”

They landed on a building and the other two angels marveled at the sight of all of the reapers that were standing completely still. They could immediately hear the feral barks of the hellhounds, and they flew to the rooftop of the building across the street. Lyriel sighed in relief that Sam’s guesstimate had been rightーthere was 15. She turned towards the other two angels. “You know your job.”

She flew into the building silently as to not alarm the Harvelles. Jo was sitting against the counter, blood seeping through the once white bandages to stain them, and her hands, a deep red. Her hand rested on her stomach, holding in her intestines. Her face was a sickly pale as her body went into shock from the pain and blood loss. Dean stood across the room with a duffel bag, shoving whatever he could into the bag. After all, free was free. Sam stood on the left side of the store as to keep an eye on the whole area, stuffing products into a duffel bag as well. Ellen Harvelle kneeled next to her daughter, unshed tears wetting her eyes as she watched her daughter get closer and closer to death.

Lyriel took a step, her shoes clicking on the floor to announce her presence. The heads of each of the hunters shot up. Ellen pointed her rifle at Lyriel before turning to Sam. “Who the hell is this?!” Lyriel calmly walked towards Jo who was staring at Lyriel nervously. She came to a stop a few feet from Jo and.glanced at Ellen before turning back to Jo. “I am Lyriel, an archangel, and I am not your enemy.” There was a howl of pain outside as one of the hellhounds died. Lyriel turned to Sam. “Hello, Sam. I’m glad you have some common sense to call me. A prayer would have worked fine, but I guess you needed me to be able to communicate back.”

Dean started. “You called Lyriel? Why?” Sam glared at Dean before gesturing towards Jo and the door outside which hellhounds were being slaughtered. “We didn’t exactly plan this very well, Dean. You may be fine with throwing your life away out of guiltーI am tooーbut Jo and Ellen don’t deserve to die.” Lyriel tuned them out as they began to squabble and walked to stand at Jo’s feet before kneeling. “I can heal you, if you’ll let me.” Lyriel tilted her head to the side as a thought came to her. “Well, I can heal you even if you don’t want me to, but I would prefer consent.”

After a moment, Jo nodded and her mom shook her head before they called out opposing answers at the same time. They turned to look at eachother in shock, both affronted by the other’s answer. Jo raised her free hand and gestured to Lyriel. “Mom, if she can save me, I would prefer not to die today.” Ellen sighed and put her hand on her daughter’s leg. “I”m sure of that, but we don’t know her. We can’t trust her.”

Lyriel sighed, annoyed. “All due respect, Mrs. Harvelle, but this is not your choice. I didn’t ask you.” Lyriel looked into Jo’s eyes. “Do you want to live?” Jo paused for a moment before nodding. Lyriel laid her hand on Jo’s leg and and slowly, as to not scare her nor her mother, pulsed her grace through Jo and into the wound. Jo gasped at the warmth and then at the lack of pain. After Lyriel lifted her hand, Jo quickly pulled off the bandage and ran her fingers over the perfect skin.

Jo gave a broken laugh, shocked. Lyriel stood and held a hand out to Jo. Jo took her hand and Lyriel pulled her up and Lyriel jumped in shock as Jo threw her arms around Lyriel, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I-I I thought was going to die.” Jo sobbed and Lyriel smiled softly before hugging her back. She ran a hand over her back before passing her off to her mom.

She walked over to Dean who was still fuming. “Give me the Colt.” Dean shook his head. “No.” Lyriel scoffed and then held out her hand. “I’ll ask nicely one more time. Give. Me. The. Colt.” Dean shook his head again and Lyriel flicked her hand. The Colt flew out of his jacket and into her hand. She walked up to him and smacked him across the face. “You moron. You’re so fucking guilty about hell that you are willing to get not only yourself killed, but the people around you! I told you that the Colt would not harm Lucifer, but you still ran to your death.” Dean tried to interject and Lyriel held up a hand, holding Dean’s lips closed with her grace.

“No, Dean. You don’t get a say. Not until you can think straight.” She touched a hand to his forehead and her fell to the ground asleep. She turned to Sam. “I know you have enough common sense to have brought Cas, so where is he?” Sam shrugged. “He ran off as soon as he saw the ridiculous amount of reapers there are outside, apparently.” Lyriel sighed. “Stay here.” She flew above the town and felt for Cas’ grace, finding him in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town of the second floor. She silently flew into the room. She found Meg, goading Cas.

With her grace, she marked a rope with sigils to keep her from leaving the vessel and quickly bound Meg. Meg gasped in shock. “What theー” Lyriel snapped her fingers, knocking Lyriel unconscious. She turned to Cas and scrunched her nose at the sight of the holy fire. She snapped her fingers and it vanished, the floor untainted by the flames. Cas walked over and hugged her. “Hello sister. I thought you did not condone the use of the Colt on Lucifer.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t. I’m here to save your stupid ass.” She glanced at Meg. “Will you take her to Heaven for me? I have to take care of the kids.” Cas chuckled before sobering up. “I… I can’t.” Lyriel looked at him in confusion. “Can’t what?” Cas sighed sadly. “Take her to Heaven. When I sided with the Winchesters, I was barred from Heaven.” Lyriel snorted. “Well, you’re not anymore, seeing as Heaven is working with the Winchesters instead of against. I know for a fact that Balthazar has been wanting to see you.”

Cas looked at her with tentative hope. “Are you sure?” She nodded and Cas walked over to Meg, picking her up and heaving her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Say hello to Balthazar for me, Cas.” He nodded and spread his wings before taking flight.

Lyriel flew back to the hardware store and grabbed the duffle bag Dean had been using as well as the one Sam was holding. Sam looked at her in confusion. “Where’s Cas?” She smiled softly. “Visiting an old friend. Grab your brother, please.” She turned to the Harvelles as Sam walked past her, picking up Dean. “Are you two good to go?” They nodded, although Ellen still looked at her with apprehension.

They walked out of the store and Ellen jumped at the sight of the other two angels. “Remiel, take them to their bar, The Roadhouse, please.” Remiel nodded and laid one hand on each of their shoulders before flying away. “Zerachiel, I need you to keep an eye out until we leave. It would be a very inopportune time to get jumped by demons or hellhounds.” Zerachiel nodded and Sam led to way to the Impala.

They arrived without incident and Lyriel threw the duffel bags into the trunk of the car as Sam stuffed Dean into the back seat. As Lyriel slid into the passenger seat, she saw Shadowfax in his cage and gasped in protest. “You left him out here?! He could have been killed! You could have at least let him out of his kennel!” Sam shrugged. “Dean didn’t want his fur on the upholstery. His car, his rules.” She scoffed. “Screw his rules.” Lyriel leaned back and pulled Shadowfax out of the kennel and put him on her lap, rubbing the area behind his ears as he purred in delight. She rolled down the window and leaned out of the window slightly to address Zerachiel.

“Thank you for your assistance, Zerachiel. You are dismissed.” He bowed slightly before flying away. Sam turned the key in the ignition and they drove out of the town.

After distancing themselves 5 miles from Carthage, Lyriel woke Dean up. He sat up groggily. “Morning sunshine.” He groaned. “I hate it when you guys do that.” Lyriel pat his knee. “Suck it up, buttercup. Anyways, now that I’ve cleaned up your mess, it’s time for me to head out.” She disappeared in a flash and returned to Heaven as Dean and Sam travelled to the nearest hotel.

Lyriel landed in the library that she had been in before the call. Michael was sitting at one of the desks, his nose stuffed into a book. Lyriel plopped down into one of the seats in front of the desk and Michael glanced up at her before looking back at the book. “How’d it go?” Lyriel ran her fingers through Shadowfax’s fur, relaxing into the chair. “Fine. You get my present yet?”

Michael laughed. “Are you talking about the demon? Yes, Castiel delivered her. She is now in Heaven’s prison. I’m going to visit her later and question her. I’m not surー” Michael’s eyes went wide as he saw the cat and his grace identified it as one of Heaven’s holy felines. “How? How did… I thought that they were extinct.” Lyriel shrugged. “I found him on Earth in an animal shelter. He isn’t completely of Heaven though. He is part average house cat.”

Michael walked around the desk and held his arms out tentatively. “May I?” Lyriel placed Shadowfax into his arms and Michael squealed, although he would deny it if asked. As she stared at the two of them, Lyriel swore that she felt her heart stop. She stood up quickly and Michael looked at her in shock. Lyriel danced around the room, her grace bright with joy. Michael stared at her, confused and nervous. “Sister?” She continued to dance around the room until she came to a stop in front of Michael, her eyes shining bright.

“I know how to find Metatron.”


	13. A Plan Founded

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 13: A Plan Founded  
Written by RippleInThePond

 

* * *

 

“I know how to find Metatron.”

Michael’s eyes widened as he jolted. “What? How?!” He ran his hand through Shadowfax’s thick fur, the black cat purring in satisfaction. Lyriel shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know how we never thought of it before. We are obviously idiots.” She snorted. “It’s so simple that we looked right past it― his aura.” She walked over and plucked Shadowfax out of Michael’s arms. “I realized who this little guy was when my grace felt his aura.” She raised an eyebrow as she looked at Michael. “Couldn’t we do the same for Metraon?”

Michael’s brow scrunched as he considered the proposition. “To do so would take more grace than a seraphim holds. It would take an archangel. Raphael will certainly not help you as he still hates you. I cannot waste the time and energy to assist you as I must run Heaven. You… you would be required to do this on your own. It will be extremely taxing on your grace. You would be lucky to find him early on in your search. You’ll have almost completely exhausted your grace. It would take quite a bit of power to restore it to you quickly. Power that none of us have.”

She shrugged, walking over to her bag. “I will do what I must to end this blood bath.” He nodded in understanding and flew away for a moment before returning and placing an amulet in her hands. “This should help. It responds in the presence of angels that existed before… you know. Not archangels, though.” She nodded. “Thank you.”

Lyriel changed her appearance so that no one (Lucifer, specifically) would be able to recognize her in the chance that they saw her. She turned to Michael and drawled sarcastically, “This should be fun.” She spread her wings and flew to earth, pulling out her phone when she landed and called Dean. The phone rang for a moment and there was a click as Dean answered.

_“Winchester.”_

“Hey Dean, it’s Lyriel. We figured out how to find Metatron. Well, I figured it out.” She heard him sigh in relief.

_“Fina-fucking-ly. Sam and I have been running around like idiots in the chance of finding a single lead. So, whatcha got?”_

“It’s a long and boring explanation, but in short, I need a quiet comfy and cozy place to lay low. Not sure for how long. I would just stay in the wild, but that isn’t exactly safe and I need you to be able to visit me easily.” She paused as a thought occurred to her. “Is Bobby’s available? I am okay with him, but he doesn’t seem to like me very much―although I healed his injury― so you should probably ask if we can crash there."

 _“Sure.”_ She heard a rustle and a slightly muted _“Sammy, call Bobby! Tell him we are gonna chill there for a while.”_ There was a slight pause where Lyriel assumed that Sam was responding and she heard Dean say “BItch!” There was another pause before Dean hastily added “Don’t mention Lyriel!” She snickered and Dean said, _"Hey, we are in Super 8 Fargo, North Dakota, room 36.”_

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” She closed her phone, ending the conversation and rubbed Shadowfax’s head before calling upon Gabriel.

It had been weeks since she had tried to tell him the God was still around, but he hadn’t believed her then and he ignored her attempts since then to contact him. She wasn’t sure whether his pride was damaged that she was right or if he still believed her to be lying.

She waited a moment, mentally crossing her fingers in the hopes that he would come. However, her heart fell as she realized that he wasn’t coming. She sighed in disappointment before spreading her wings and flying silently to the hotel that Dean had mentioned.

Dean was sitting on a brown and crimson paisley bed, a book of Greek lore on his lap. The book was opened to the legends of the manticore. Sam was sitting at the desk in the room, his laptop displaying a wiccan’s blog that displayed the cure for basic poisons, his phone next to the laptop. She slinked over behind Dean and saw Sam looking at her in amusement as he noticed her presence in the room. Dean was engrossed in the text and hadn’t realized that she was there. Quickly, she grabbed the back of his boxers and pulled up hard, effectively giving him an awful wedgie.

He yelped, leaping off of the bed as Sam roared with laughter at his brother’s expense. Dean turned and glared at Lyriel before picking his wedgie, causing Sam to laugh even harder as he clutched his stomach.

Lyriel smirked as Dean’s indignation transformed into embarrassment and Lyriel giggled internally. She made her face blank before hollering “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!” Sam snorted. “Harry Potter, Lyriel? Really?” Dean scowled. “I hate you both.” Lyriel finally let out a chuckle.

“Oh, yes you do. Of course.” She patted his head with fake sympathy. Sam calmed himself and then turned to address Lyriel. “So, you can find Metatron?” Lyriel nodded. “Yeah. The only problem is that it will take a while.” She set Shadowfax down who trotted over into Sam’s arms. “There’ll be a crap ton of wrong guesses and a lot of gas, but we can do it. I’ll be filtering through hundreds of thousands of auras at a time and, seeing as I haven’t seen Metatron for multiple millenia, I will be a little off I’m going to be exhausted.”

Dean scrunched his eyebrows. “So, Sam and I are gonna be putting in a lot of miles?” Lyriel nodded. “And, you’re planning on staying at Bobby’s to filter through auras?” She nodded again. “It’ll probably take me three days per state. Hopefully, he is in America and also not in the very last state I search. I’ll give you the map with the cities containing possibilities. Oh! I almost forgot.” She handed the amulet that Michael had given her to Sam. “It’ll respond in the presence of angels from before Lucifer fell from grace that are not archangels. From what I know of the legends of this amulet, when it is placed around the neck of an angel, it saps the angel’s grace, weakening them to the point that they cannot fly. Anyways, what’d Bobby say?”

Dean shrugged. “Didn’t answer. He’s probably buried in his books or helping a poor son of a bitch that doesn’t know how to hunt right. He probably should call back soon actu―” the phone next to Sam’s laptop rang and Dean smiled. “Speak of the devil.”

Sam answered the phone. “Hey, Bobby. No, we are not in a deadly situation in need of desperate assistance. We do need a place to hunker down for a while, though. You available?”

_“Yeah. What’d ya idjits do?”_

“Nothing. Just… need a break.”

 _“It’s the middle of the bloody apocalypse and you want a vacation?”_ Bobby sighed. _“When are ya showing up?”_

Sam turned to Lyriel, covering the receiver. “He wants to know when we’re showing up. We flying?” Dean groaned, his face pale. “Please no.” Lyriel snorted. “Yeah, we’re flying. Tell him two hours.” She turned to Dean. “I’ll even bring baby.” Lyriel walked to the door. “Pack up boys. I’ll be back soon.”

She walked out the door and set her hand on the hood of the impala and transported it 50 miles from Bobby’s house and junk yard in Sioux Falls and flew back to the hotel.

Dean and Sam stood outside, a duffle bag on each of their shoulders. Shadowfax was curled up on top of Sam’s duffel bag, his fur blending in with the material. Lyriel stepped forward, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. “You good to go?” They nodded Lyriel flew them to the impala.

They slid into the car when they arrived, throwing the duffel bags into the trunk. Dean turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. They drove the car the short distance to Bobby’s and as they pulled up in front of the house, Bobby stepped out onto the porch, his hands stuffed in his pockets as an old baseball cap sat atop his head. The gravel crunched under Lyriel’s foot as she stepped out of the car, Shadowfax cradled in her arms. Sam and Dean followed suit, each grabbing a duffel bag from the trunk.

When Bobby caught sight of Lyriel, his expression soured as his nose and eyebrows scrunched, the corners of his mouth turning down in a scowl. Lyriel nodded her head respectfully and he nodded back, his scowl still firmly in place. When Lyriel stepped inside, she heard Bobby address the boys.

“Why the hell is she here? You didn’t mention her in your call when you asked for your little vacation!” Lyriel could hear the frustration in his voice. She could practically see Sam lean against a pillar on the porch, a cool, calm, collected expression on his face.

“It’s not a vacation, Bobby. Lyriel found a way to end this stupid war.” She sense Bobby’s hesitation befoer he whispered, “Balls.” Sam smirked and the three of them walked inside. Lyriel placed Shadowfax on the couch before pulling a book out of her pocket that was much too big to have fit inside it. Dean’s eyes widened as he looked at her questioning what he had seen.

“Bigger on the inside.” The corner of Lyriel’s mouth twitched up as she realized her accidental reference.

As Bobby walked into the room, Lyriel stared at him hesitantly before holding the book out to him. He stared at it before glancing at her and then back at the book. “What is it?” Lyriel paused. “I… It’s a peace offering. Look, I know you don’t like me for some reason. I’m sorry for whatever I did to you or what the hell I did to deserve your malice, but we need to work together. We can’t have hate between one another. Not when it is already so hard to know who to trust.” She wiggled the book, gesturing for him to take it.

Cautiously, Bobby grabbed the book before running his fingers over the embossed cover, the Enochian shining like mercury. “It’s a book of ancient Enochian spells, wards, and sigils. I translated the names and descriptions into english so you would be able to know what they all do. The stuff in there can affect all species, from angels to demons. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, you name it.”

She ran a hand through her hair as she looked down at her toes and then back up at Bobby. “We good?” Bobby sighed as he stared at the obsidian cover of the book. “I’m… sorry for any hatefulness I may have displayed towards you. I just don’t trust easy. Especially angels.”

Bobby walked over to the desk in the living room and set the book on top of a neat pile of books. “So, if y’all aren’t having a stupid vacation, why are you here?” Lyriel glanced at Sam and Dean before turning back to Bobby. “I need a place to lay low.” Bobby raised an eyebrow, discreetly asking for more information. Lyriel sighed and sat down.

“Sit, Bobby. This may take a while.”

After having finished informing Bobby of everything, Lyriel watched Bobby as he stared at her in shock. “So, you need to stay here to search for the angel who screwed us all over and haven’t seen for multiple millennia.” He placed his hands on his knees and balanced himself as he stood up.

He waved a hand at her, gesturing for her to follow. Bobby led Lyriel down to the safe room in the basement, the door creaking as he opened it. Lyriel stepped inside and looked around. “Perfect.” She turned to Bobby. “You may want to read that book I gave you as soon as possible. There are some wards in there that can keep angels and demons off of the property.”

Bobby’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Wouldn’t that keep you and trenchcoat angel out?” Lyriel shook her head. “No. Many of the wards in there are selective and can allow entry to specific creatures through the use of their grace or a feather from their wing.” Bobby nodded in comprehension and left the room, shutting the door behind him on the way out.

Lyriel changed into a pair of comfortable off-white pajamas and then made multiple adjustments around the room. She removed the cot and replaced it with a comfortable queen sized bed. The comforter on the bed was large and soft, a relaxing deep blue with multiple gray pillows on top. The bookshelves were replaced with one very large bookshelf and the closet was changed into a large, wooden dresser with 8 separate drawers, each filled with various clothes for Sam, Dean, Bobby, and Lyriel. A dark brown carpet covered the floor, the various sigils and symbols still present―if not a bit restored― underneath. A brown couch that could be pulled out into a bed sat in the corner. The rundown, old desk was replaced with a large desk, a computer and various material on top. Lyriel then summoned a detailed map for every state and grabbed the top one, settling onto the bed.

‘I’m coming for you, Metatron.’

 


	14. Lost and Found

The Lies We Tell  
By RippleInThePond  
Chapter 14: Lost and Found;

* * *

 

Two months had passed and Lyriel had searched nineteen states, starting on the east coast, but she had failed to find Metatron. Dean and Sam were exhausted from searching the approximate 10 cities in each state that had contained auras similar to Metatron’s.

Bobby had long since erected the wards from the book that she had given him as a peace offering. The wards kept out everyone except for Cas, Lyriel, Sam, Dean, and Bobby. Bobby had been quite pleasantly surprised when a vampire whose nest had been destroyed came looking for vengeance― he had erupted into flames.

Shadowfax had grown rapidly, advancing past the size of the average housecat to the size of a small panther. They had all been floored when he began to communicate with them telepathically, his soft voice echoing in their heads.

Lyriel sat on her giant pile of velvet pillows, her eyes closed as she meditated, her grace searching over the auras in a fraction of the cities of Michigan. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she scanned over a map of Michigan before finding the last two locations with potential auras, placing stars over top of them.

Lyriel carefully rolled up the map after blowing on the ink. She stood and stretched, her back cracking loudly. She groaned, rubbing the back of her neck and she trudged out of the room, carrying the map of Michigan in her hand.

She plopped onto a chair in the kitchen, dropping her head onto the table. Bobby walked up behind her chuckling. “Tired?” She nodded. “I am so exhausted.” Bobby raised an eyebrow. “You aware that you’ve been sleeping this whole time, right?” Lyriel picked up her head from the table. “I’m not _sleeping_ , I’m _meditating_ , using literally the very essence of my being to search the cities. I’d like to see you do it.”

Bobby raised his hands, relenting, as he walked towards the fridge. “You want any food?” She groaned. “Oh, God, yes.” Lyriel froze, her eyes widening as what she said caught up to her. “Those boys are bad role models. I’ve been _tainted_.” Bobby snorted as he gathered up the ingredients to make sandwiches for the both of them.

Shadowfax, approximately the size of a German Shepherd now, trotted in, his sleek, black fur shining, his eyes twinkling with his feline grace. He walked up and laid his head on her leg. _“Milady, you need rest.”_ Lyriel tipped her head down to look at Shadowfax and ran her fingers through his fur. “I have rested, Shadow.”

His eyes narrowed. _“A nap is NOT resting.”_ “I can’t rest like that. I have to find Metatron. I have to stop this stupid blood-bath of a war.” her anxious desperation seeped into her voice and Shadowfax purred, calming her nerves. _“You aren’t going to find him any easier through exhaustion. Lady, please take a real break.”_ Lyriel sighed, relenting at their insistence. “Fine.”

Lyriel turned just as Bobby placed a ham sandwich with various fresh vegetables on the table in front of her, his own in his mouth. She hastily picked it up with glee, biting into the sandwich with delight.

After completing her sandwich, Lyriel thanked Bobby and walked towards the door to the basement, but Shadowfax stepped in the way. _“Where do you think you’re going?”_ She smirked, raising an eyebrow. “I was going to go to actually sleep. My bed is much comfier than any of Bobby’s.”

Shadowfax tilted his head towards her in doubt before stepping to the side and letting her pass. As she opened the door and walked down the stairs to the safe room, Shadowfax followed her his claws clicking against the floor.

The door of the safe room creaked as she opened it, the iron hinges rusty and old. Lyriel cringed at the shrill sound, waving her hand to oil the hinges. Lyriel walked over to the bed and curled up on top of the thick pillows, throwing a fuzzy throw pillow over herself. She squealed as Shadowfax jumped up onto the bed, jostling the mattress. They curled up against each other and Lyriel closed her eyes as her exhaustion caught up to her, falling into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 

Five days passed and Lyriel had not fought their demands that she rest. Her grace had regained much of its original strength, her exhaustion leaving her. She sat on the roof of Bobby’s house, a wicker basket filled with food at her side. Shadowfax laid next to her, basking in the sun as his fur shined. Storm clouds rolled in the distance.

Lyriel turned as a car roared up the driveway. The Impala pulled up in front of the house and Lyriel picked up Shadowfax before flying up to the car, leaping off of the roof with the map in her hand.

Sam stepped out of the car and Shadow leapt on top of Sam, pushing him to the ground. He hit the ground with a grunt as Shadowfax licked his face. _“Dude! You’re back!”_ Sam spluttered at the spit and pushed Shadowfax off of his chest. “Ugh, gross.” He wiped the saliva off of his face.

Lyriel chuckled and handed the map to Sam as he stood up. “You’re finally back! Took you long enough. I don’t know why you insist on driving for hours on end with no rest instead of having Cas help you.” Dean groaned. “Because it makes us constipated! And how could you possibly have another one already?” She snorted. “Dean, I’ve been done for days.” He pointed a finger at her accusingly. “No, no. You just want to work us to the bone.”

“Nah, I need you functional.” Sam sighed. “We will leave in two days, but we need a break. Even if only for a short time.” Lyriel nodded. “Yeah, I have been taking a break since I finished that one.” She gestured to the map in Sam’s hand. “Not that Shadowfax or Bobby would have left me continue. I was running myself ragged.”

Lyriel summoned the basket from the roof and walked into the house, the wicker basket swaying in her hand. Dean and Sam followed silently, Shadowfax beside them. They settled into the living room and Lyriel pulled out strawberry shortcake from the basket. Sam opened the map of Michigan and groaned. Dean leaned over at the noise and groaned as well. “Oh, come on, Lyriel! There are so many in this one!”

Lyriel glared at him over her cake. “You think that I don’t know that? I’m the one that had to go through every single city.” Dean backed away from the map. “No. Nope. Not gonna do it. Baby can’t take much of this. We haven't let her rest.” He wagged his finger. “No.”

Sam and Lyriel snorted, both of them aware that Dean would do it anyway. Lyriel raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you’re going to throw a tantrum, you can take my job.” She threw a strawberry at his forehead, nailing him right between the eyes. Dean scowled as Sam chuckled, scanning the map.

His eyes narrows and he beckoned Lyriel closer. She walked over and he pointed to a cluster of cities. “This has never happened before.” Lyriel nodded. “I noticed it. I don’t want to jinx the possibility, but I honestly think that he is in Michigan.”

Dean sighed. “What will you do when you find him?” Lyriel’s face hardened, her eyes cold with anger. “I’m going to make him talk. He is going to tell me the truth about that false prophecy. Then, Michael can have him.” Dean shuddered. “I kind of pity him.” She glared at him. “Don’t. Don’t pity him. He deserves every single punishment he will receive.”

Lyriel took a bite of her cake and the boys stared at the map. She swallowed. “If and when you find him, call me like we discussed. Don’t approach him. Don’t underestimate him. He may be a scribe, but he is in no way weak.” They nodded and Lyriel stood, pushing the basket at them. “Eat. I lost my appetite.”

She walked towards the basement and Shadowfax padded after her softly. The stairs creaked like an old tree blown by the wind as she took each step. When she reached the safe room, she created a small bath with foamy, hot water.

She slipped in and her eyes closed, her body relaxing. She felt herself be lulled to sleep by the heat and Shadowfax’s soft purring. The world faded to black as she fell into a deep slumber.

The scene was formed by soft-edged wild-life with vibrant blues, greens, and reds drawing her eyes to every small detail within her dream. She turned around and Chuck stood behind her. “Papa?” He nodded. “I’ve heard about your little mission. You’re searching for Metatron, correct?” She looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be informed. He touched his chest as if offended. “Hey! I’m still in the loop!”

His face softened into concern for her. “Don’t lose yourself, sweetheart. I know that the Winchesters are unaware of the strength of your anger, but I do know. I know that it burns like a flame within you. Don’t let it consume, or you will find yourself becoming that which you fight.”

She sighed and sat down, a bench appearing beneath her. “I know. I know that my anger could be catastrophic, but Dad, I’m so angry! I’m hurt and confused. We trusted Metatron and he tore us apart. I’m angry at him! I’m angry at my brothers for their betrayal. I-I… I’m trying to let it go, but it hurts.” She gave a shuddering sigh. “I’m pretending that I’m okay in front of everyone, even Michael. I’m pretending that their ‘I’m sorry’s’ are enough, but they aren’t! I feel so lost Daddy.”

Her voice cracked in anguish and Chuck sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her as he pulled her into a hug. “I’m so scared. I don’t want to have to end this war.” He sighed. “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not up to us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” Lyriel snorted. “Lord of the Rings, papa? You didn’t even quote it right!”

Chuck smiled. “Maybe so, but it got you to stop crying, didn’t it?” He squeezed her before standing and pulling her to her feet. “Good night, my dear.” He kissed her forehead and the dream world darkened as she fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

 

Four days passed since Dean and Sam had returned and they had left after resting to check the designated cities in Michigan. After Lyriel’s dream, she had found a weight removed from her shoulders from confessing the stress of her burden. Bobby had left to investigate a poltergeist hunt in New Jersey, leaving Lyriel at the scrapyard with Shadowfax.

Lyriel was sitting on Bobby’s couch in the study, curled up with a book of Persian mythology as she pet Shadowfax who was laying on her feet, his eyes closed in bliss. He purred, nudging her hand whenever she paused. Lyriel chuckled in amusement before setting the book aside.

Lyriel pulled Shadowfax into her lap, running her fingers through his silky, onyx fur as she began to sing softly.

Lay down  
Your sweet and weary head  
Night is falling  
You have come to journey’s end  
Sleep now and dream  
Of the ones who came before  
They are calling  
From across the distant shore  
Why do you weep?  
What are these tears upon your face?  
Soon you will see  
All of your fears will pass away  
Safe in my arms  
You're only sleeping  
What can you see on the horizon?  
Why do the white gulls-

The phone rang, disturbing the tranquil air. Lyriel sighed before picking up the phone and answering without checking the caller ID. “What?”

_“We found him.”_

  
She bolted upright and Shadowfax yelped as he fell off of the couch, landing on the floor.

“Where?!”

_“The Welcome Inn, Mackinaw, Michigan. We’re in room 17.”_

Lyriel clapped a hand to the side off of the couch, grabbing Shadowfax’s fur before flying to the address. When she arrived, Dean slapped the phone shut and held the amulet out to her.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it would have a response. The damn thing got so hot I could barely hold it and we were still two miles out!” She grabbed the amulet tentatively, hissing at the heat. “Oh, he is definitely here.” She tipped her head forward and looped the chain over her head. When it rested on her chest, she looked back up at them.

“Stay here. We’ll be back soon.”

Lyriel walked out, Shadowfax on her heels. _“Lady, don’t lose yourself to the vengeance.”_ She shook her head. “I will not. I swear. I refuse to stoop to his level of depravity by wallowing in my anger.”

They walked through the town, the amulet burning hotter. As they stepped in front of an old bookstore, the amulet suddenly turned as cold as ice. She stiffened before slowly turning to look at the building.

The brick was old and dirty, chipping away from the weather. The windows were filthy, as if they had not been touched in years. The metal railings that led to the door were rusted along with the hinges on the door.

The sky darkened as if it could feel her anger. She slowly walked up the steps, anticipation crawling up her throat as if it was choking her. As she stood before the door, she thought that her lungs had stopped working as she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.

She rang the doorbell and, after a few moments, an old, dirty, withered form of a man opened the door. His hair was gray and frazzled, his clothes messy and unkempt. His hands were wrinkled, dirt under the nails that were far too long. Out of his mouth came a voice so disgustingly sweet that it was grating. “Who are you? Do you need anything?”

Lyriel’s eyes narrowed in disgust and disbelief at the state of his vessel, her astonishment at finding him becoming secondary―a man had given his body so that Metatron could inhabit it, and it was being desecrated and mistreated.

She flared her grace and Metatron’s eyes widened in fear as he attempted to flee. She roughly grabbed his shoulders, pinning his wings. With her grace, she threw him against the wall. Like a panther on the prowl, she slinked up to him as Shadowfax followed gracefully. When she stood in front of him, she placed the amulet around his neck and he fell to the ground when she released her grace, his strength sapped by the amulet.

“Hello, Metatron. Long time no see.”


	15. Chapter 15

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 15: A Dish Best Served Cold  
Written by RippleInThePond

* * *

 

_Last on The Lies We Tell:_

_She flared her grace and Metatron’s eyes widened in fear as he attempted to flee. She roughly grabbed his shoulders, pinning his wings. With her grace, she threw him against the wall. Like a panther on the prowl, she slinked up to him as Shadowfax followed gracefully. When she stood in front of him, she placed the amulet around his neck and he fell to the ground when she released her grace, his strength sapped by the amulet._

_“Hello, Metatron. Long time no see.”_

Metatron coughed, his throat dry, as he weakly stood, his hands bracing him against the wall. Lyriel laughed as his eyes flicked between her and the exits on either side of him. Rolling her eyes, she extended her hand and the doors flew shut, the locks giving a quiet click that caused Metatron’s face to pale.

“Do you think me a fool, Metatron? I am well aware of your adeptness for your machinations.” His eyes narrowed at her statement. “How do you know me? I am not a fool either, and I can feel your power. Yet, I have no recollection of you. You are quite powerful. So, who are you?”

Lyriel glared at him, her face darkening with hatred and contempt. “Who I am matters not. How I know you is of no concern either. What you have done to Heaven and the angels, however, matters a great deal.” She placed her hand on his throat, pressing down against his windpipe. “Why did you create a false prophecy? Was it vengeance against God for leaving? Or was it anger against the other angels who left you be, never giving you a moment's glance?”

His eyes widened in an attempt at surprise and disbelief, but she could feel the satisfaction that he tried to hide in his grace and she could see the triumph in his eyes. “What false prophecy? My prophecies came from God himself. Why would I give a false prophecy? I was revered by the Host. The scribe of God was and is quite the title, wouldn’t you say?”

Lyriel snarled as she drew her angel blade and rested the rip where his heart, if it existed, would reside. “Try again, Metatron. Maybe it has been too long since you were around another angel, let alone an archangel.” His eyes widened and she cursed internally at revealing any information. “You have forgotten to control the emotions you emit within your grace. Your satisfaction when I mentioned the false prophecy radiated off of you in waves.” She pressed the tip into his chest, going through the cloth and breaking the skin beneath. “Would you like to try that statement again?”

His face twisted into a disgusting glare before smoothing out into a sickly sweet smile. “What would you like from me, Miss…” Lyriel glared as he attempted to manipulate her and get her name, her anger growing in a burning wave. She removed the blade from his chest before embedding it in his wrist, his hand pinned to the wall. Metatron screamed, his voice seeming to echo of the walls that Lyriel soundproofed.

She sighed exasperatedly, her voice cold and empty. “Metatron, you are well aware of what I want from you, and I will have it.” She removed the blade and Metatron dropped to the ground, cradling his wrist. She raised the blade and slowly cut across his cheek, blood streaming from the deep wound. She then set the blade on the ground, blood glistening on the tip of the blade.

“Tell me, Metatron, have you ever felt true pain? I have. I felt it when I learned how you were going to tear and are tearing our family apart. Would you like to see how it felt?” She stroked his chest and then shoved her hand into his chest cavity and seized his grace, squeezing it as Metatron cried out in agony, begging her to stop. Lyriel felt his pain and fear through his grace and relished in it, her hatred consuming her.

Shadowfax jumped up laying his paws on her shoulders as he purred in her ear in an attempt to calm her. _“Stop this, milady! This is wrong. Do not corrupt your grace over him.”_ Lyriel closed her eyes, his cries ringing in her ears and she felt sick. With a shuddering breath, she pulled her hand out of Metatron’s chest. He gasped in pain until Lyriel placed her hands over his forehead, healing his wounds

Metatron sat at the bottom of the wall, his body still trembling with the aftershocks of his pain. Lyriel stood slowly, taking calming breaths to stop herself from vomiting at what she had done. She slowly opened her eyes to take in the angel before her.

Metatron laughed as he gained his composure. “You are weak. I knew you couldn’t kill me or even injure me that badly. You don’t have the stomache for it.” Lyriel grabbed his arm, pulling him upright. “Sometimes, it takes more strength of heart to spare someone’s life than to end it.” She tightened her grip and pulled him closer to look him directly in the eye. “You will tell the truth and end this asinine war.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do tell, my dear, what is in it for me?” She fixed him with a cold look. “ I won’t hand you off to Michael or Lucifer to kill.” He frowned, his mind racing. He knew that she would try to make him speak and reveal the truth, but he could lie or silent if he chose to. “You won’t throw me in Heaven’s Prison. That has to be a part of the deal.” She scoffed. “Fine.” She sent up a prayer, telling Michael to bring the angels together so that they could hear the truth from Metatron himself.

Lyriel stretched her wings after picking up Shadowfax and then flew to Heaven, throwing Metatron into a chair when she arrived. Immediately, straps latched Metatron to the chair around the ankles, thighs, wrists, upper arms, and chest. Metatron, startled, looked at the chair in surprise. “What is this?!” Michael gave him a cold smirk. “We found it in Heaven’s Vault. It used to be used to judge rogue angels and would prevent them from falsifying their statements or remaining silent. We believed, that with your reputation for lies, it would prove useful.”

Metatron’s eyes widened as he realized that he could not lie nor could he remain silent. He looked forward and saw the multitude of angels who were staring at him; the entirety of the Heavenly Host was there to see him reveal the truth. Fear raced through him as Michael stepped towards the angels.

“Brothers and sisters! Today, we learn the truth. Today, we learn of Metatron’s treachery. Today, this war ends!” A cheer went up from the people as Michael turned to Metatron. “Tell us, Metatron, of your many lies. Tell us of the prophecy of the apocalypse that you created under the name of our Father.

Metatron squeezed his lips shut, not wanting to tell the truth. A pressure built behind his lips as he held his lips closed. The pressure burst and Metatron’s lips opened, his confession spilling out of his like water.

“I lied. I created a false prophecy so that you would fight and kill one another. So that you would be divided. You think that God loves us! He left us! You had to be made to see his actions for what they were. If you thought that God had prophesied your violence, that he wanted you to fight one another, you would see him for what he is: a fraud! He does not love us.We are his toys! You fools follow him. You are blind and stupid. Every single one of you. You don’t understand that I am better than you. I am better than you all! I hate you all! You should burn! You will burn! The Morning Star will continue to hunt you down! He will kill you all.”

His chest heaved, his breath shaky with anger and apparent madness. A murmur went out around the crowd as Metatron’s eyes widened, fear at what he had revealed hitting him in the chest like a bullet.

An angel leapt out of the crowd, blade drawn. Lyriel grabbed the angel midair and pressed them to the ground. “Stop! He will face justice, but this is the wrong course of action to take! It taints you and brings you to his level.” The angel snarled. “It is his fault my comrades are dead.” Lyriel shook her head. “No, the fault is yours. The fault belongs to all of you. You were told that it was true, that you had to fight. You never once thought for yourself, which you can do. You are not one mind. You can think for yourself. The deaths of the angels in this war rests on all of your shoulders.”

The angel glared at her. “Our fault? Our fault?! What of you? You are an angel as well!” She shook her head. “I was exiled from Heaven because my beliefs are different than yours. You look at humans and see apes. I see a beauty that our Father created.” She stood, pulling the other angel up as well. “I am not of the Host anymore.”

She walked up to Metatron, releasing him from the chair. “Fight no longer. This war is over.” She grabbed Metatron’s arm and flew him to Heaven’s Prison, throwing him into the most isolated cell.

The walls were an empty gray, every surface cracked as if someone had pounded on the walls. There was a small bench in the corner with a small blanket. There were no door and no windows to be seen from the inside. Lyriel quickly chained Metatron’s hands to the wall. At the feeling of handcuffs, Metatron look at her in indignation.

“You swore! You swore you would not imprison me here!” She shrugged moving out of his reach. “I lied, a familiar concept to you, I’m sure.” Lyriel flew out of the cell, his cry of rage echoing down to hall.

Lyriel returned to Sam and Dean’s motel room after grabbing Shadowfax. Dean was sitting on his designated bed, twiddling his thumbs anxiously. Sam stood behind him, resting comforting hand on his shoulder. At the sound of wings, Dean looked up. When he saw Lyriel, he quickly stood up. “So? Did you find him?” She nodded. “I found him. We have a full confession. The Host knows. All that is left now is to inform Lucifer and Gabriel.”

She walked over to the nearby bed and collapsed on it. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep now. Bit of a long day.” Dean snorted, but did not protest. Lyriel closed her eyes and welcomed the comforting darkness of sleep.

_Blood, warm and sticky poured over Lyriel’s hands, crawling up her arms. She screamed, desperately rubbing it away under the water. Metatron’s reflection appeared in the water, bloody and bruised. “You’re a monster. Beating me? How inhumane.” His eyes went blank and his body appeared in the water, sinking to the bottom._

_The water turned to blood and Lyriel felt it in her lungs, suffocating her. She choked on it as hands came and pulled her up. She looked up only to see that her savior was covered in blood. “We’ll play! Cut off the heads and toeses. Fun fun fun!” She screamed, pushing it away. She ran, but the blood had soaked into her clothes like a dead weight. She saw her reflection in the blood and screamed._

_A monster._

Lyriel bolted upright with a scream before curling in on herself. Shadowfax crawled under her arm and curled up against her chest, purring comfortingly. _“Milady? Are you alright?”_ She looked at Shadowfax with wet eyes. “I’m fine. Go back to sleep.” He yawned, unconvinced that she was fine but respecting her boundaries. Shadowfax soon fell back asleep, but Lyriel sat in her bed silently, wide awake.

Sam had woken up because of her scream and he looked at her sadly. Carefully, he walked over and placed a hand on her back. “Are… are you alright?” She looked at him with wet and tired eyes. “I’m always find, Sam.” He sat down in front of her, carefully moving Shadowfax to the side. “Are you really fine? Even the worst nightmares have to be pretty bad to make a scream like that.” She bowed her head, embarrassed as she realized that she had woken him up. “I’m sorr―” He raised a hand, interrupting her. “It’s fine. I’ve gotten used to nightmares myself.” He carefully wrapped his arms around her. “What did you see?”

She gave a broken sob, her dream spilling out of her mouth as tears poured down her face. “There was blood everywhere. S-so much blood. Monster. I hurt Metatron earlier. I―I hurt him and, Sam, I enjoyed it. I feel so disgusted with myself. I thought I was going to vomit.” She gave a teary laugh. He squeezed her in a comforting gesture.. “While the fact that you enjoyed it is rather disturbing, what truly matters is your guilt; you feel bad for what you did, even if some twisted part of you enjoyed it at the time. I know what it feels like to be disgusted with yourself.”

He let go of her and gently pushed her onto the bed. “Sleep, Lyriel. You are no monster.” she curled into the pillow and Sam tentatively ran his fingers through her hair. She smiled and was soon asleep.

He gently brushed her tears away and moved to go to sleep, but he heard a small whisper in his mind that stopped him. _“Thank you, Sam.”_ He turned to the cat who was looking at him, completely awake. He nodded. “Of course.” He laid down and closed his eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

The Lies We Tell  
Chapter 16: Mental Hospitals and Family Reunions  
Written by RippleInThePond 

* * *

 

Lyriel ran down the hall of the mental hospital, Dean and Sam on her heels as they yelled after her.. “What the hell, Lyriel?! Why did you kill her? What is going on?” She screeched to a stop at the sight of the security guards standing in front of her with their tasers drawn.

“... well, shit.” She turn and ran in the other direction, grabbing Sam and Dean to make them turn. When they came to an empty corner, she flew them out to the impala, their personal effects sitting in the glove compartment. They slid into their respective seats, Dean into the driver side, Sam into the passenger side, and Lyriel into the back seat, the worn leather squeaking under their weights. Dean turned the key in the ignition, the car roared to life and Dean shifted the car into gear, driving out of the parking lot and onto the street.

Sam turned around in the seat and Dean flicked his head back and forth between Lyriel and the road. “What the hell was that?” Dean yelled. “We weren’t even there for two hours! Why did you kill that nurse?” Lyriel sighed. “She was a wraith.” Dean quickly pulled over and both of them stared at her, silently pleading for a more in depth explanation.

Lyriel sighed, leaning back as she began her explanation of the events. “Okay, so we were in the waiting room and they called Dean and then Sam in. After you two were done and waiting in the hallway, like the stubborn, protective idiots you are, they pulled me in and brought me into the room, giving me clothes to change into…”

  
_The door clicked shut and Lyriel changed into the blue hospital clothes given to her. Shortly after changing, there was a knock and a woman’s voice drifted through the door. “MIss, are you ready for your evaluation?” Lyriel gave a sound of affirmation and the door opened as a nurse peeped her head in._

_Lyriel felt her guard go up, the danger that her instincts detected creating a dull ache in her throat. She stared at the woman as she walked in and began prepping the instruments to give her a full evaluation. Lyriel felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck as bile crawled up her throat, a chill coming over her body._

_The woman in front of her had no soul. In fact, she wasn’t human at all, but a wraith. A monster._

_Lyriel’s grace rose up in defense and the wraith whipped around to look at her in fear, a spike coming out of each of her wrists. Before she could attack in response to Lyriel’s spike in grace, Lyriel raised her hand and pushed the wraith against the wall with the force of her grace._

_Lyriel calmly walked over to the wraith and then laid her hand on the wraiths head, driving her grace the the wraith, purging the monster. The wraith fell to the ground, her eyes burned out and smoking. Quickly, she changed back into her normal clothes._

_She grabbed Sam and Dean’s personal effects off the shelf and sent them to the impala.. The door opened and, before Lyriel could close it, a woman stepped in. When she stepped in, she saw the wraith’s body and screamed. Lyriel sighed in exasperation and ran past her, the woman frozen in terror at the sight of the burnt, smoking eyes and inhuman spikes coming out of her hands. Sam and Dean ran towards her. “Who screamed?! What happened?! What is going on?!”_

_The sound of feet running towards them made Lyriel turn to see what the noise was and she groaned at the sight of the guards running towards them._

“... and you know what happened from there.” Dean sighed and turned back around, pulling into the road. “Oh, and, you may want to go to Bobby’s and get there in under 48 hours.” Sam’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion and worry. “Why?” Lyriel leaned back in her seat, getting ready to take a nap. “Wraiths have a toxin that they administer through touch. It makes you go insane and hallucinate quite vividly. Don’t worry, though. It goes away after a while.”

Lyriel fell asleep and woke to the sound of screeching tires and being thrown into the seats in front of her. She groaned, rubbing her nose. “What the hell, Dean?” He threw back a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I almost ran a red light.” She sighed in exasperation and rubbed the back of her neck. “What time is it?” Sam checked his watch as Dean kept an eye on the light. “Almost eight at night. Why?” She sighed.

“Well, we took care of the monster, but Martin doesn’t know that. Not for sure. I figured I would wait until lights out to tell him. Wouldn’t exactly be good for me to go in during the day seeing as they think I killed a nurse.” She rolled her shoulders, working out the kinks. “Call me in twenty minutes, okay? Tell me where you are.” Sam looked back and nodded as Lyriel flew out of the car and landed in Martin’s hotel room.

He started to screech in horror and fear before Lyriel quickly covered his mouth. “I’m with Sam and Dean. I’m just here to talk, okay?” He nodded. “If I uncover your mouth, do you promise to not scream?” He nodded again and Lyriel tentatively removed her hand.

He stared at her. “What are you?” She sat on the edge of his bed. “I’m an angel. Sort of. I was cast out a long time ago, but I wasn’t normal then either.” He stared at her suspiciously. “Seriously, dude, I’m not here to hurt you. I wanted you to know that the monster you thought was here has been taken care of.”

His eyes widened in shock. “Already?” She nodded. “It was a wraith, posing as a nurse. She, or rather, it, was the one that came to give me my examination. I sensed it when she walked in the room and I killed her. There shouldn’t be anyone else dying suspiciously, okay?” He nodded and Lyriel looked around the room before walking up to a wall and turning to look back at him.

“Look, I know I killed the monster, but would you mind terribly if I put up some wards for your own protection? I know that Sam and Dean care for you and I would hate for anything to happen that we could have prevented.” He nodded and Lyriel traced sigils into the plaster on the walls, her grace imbuing the room to keep monsters and demons out.

Her phone went off shortly after she completed warding the room. When she answered, Sam gave her their current location. She gave Martin a mock salute and then flew to the location Sam gave her, landing outside of the parked car.

“All done. I even warded his room.” Dean smiled roguishly. “Thanks. We figured it would be a good time to call as we were switching out anyways.” Sam slid into the driver side and Dean took the back to get some sleep. Lyriel took the passenger seat and began to read the copy of A Tale of Two Cities that she kept in the glove compartment.

After a couple hours, they pulled into a rest stop and checked into a room so they could all rest. The room was cream and scarlet with dark oak wood for the bedframes and the night stand. The lamps created a dull peaceful glow. After depositing their luggage, they flopped onto their respective beds to go to sleep when Dean’s phone rang. He groaned and sleepily answered the phone. “Winchester.”

“Dean? It is Castiel. Where are you?” Dean responded and Castiel appeared in their motel room, his wings flapping nervously behind him, seen only by Lyriel. Her brow narrowed in worry. “Castiel? What is wrong?” He looked at her, biting his lip as if unsure of himself or his decision.

“Lyriel… I…” He sighed before steeling himself. “I want to see Father.” Lyriel’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure what you mean.” Castiel’s nervousness dissipated and his eyes narrowed. “You could never have known about Metatron’s lies without Father having told you something.” Her eyes crinkled as she turned to look at Sam and Dean. “Sorry boys, gotta go.”

She grabbed Cas’ shoulder and then flew out of the room and to an abandoned barn a few miles away. Lyriel hid Cas’ grace and had him move behind a pile of hay. “When he arrives, don’t come out.” Lyriel closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer.

 _“Father? I am not sure if you can hear me, but I need you. I need to talk to you. Please.”_ She stood silently for a moment when a slight breeze came up from behind her. She turned around and Chuck stood behind her. She walked over and gave him a hug, squeezing him tightly. “I found him. I… I almost did something I would have really regretted. However, even though I got him to confess and reveal everything, I can’t get to Gabriel. I sure as hell can’t get to Lucifer. He still believes in this war. He is still furious at Michael for his betrayal.” She snorted. “He is a fucking hypocrite. Anyways, it is good to see you.” She tightened her hold before backing up and holding his hand.

“Lyriel, sweetheart, you aren’t a monster and you are trying your hardest. That is the most any of us can do. Now, you are an emotionally and physically strong person. So, why did you really call me here?” She smiled, ducking her head in embarrassment at him seeing through her.

“Please don’t run.” Chuck raised an eyebrow. “Why would I run?” She turned to Castiel’s hiding place and Chuck followed her gaze. “You can come out now.” Castiel tentatively stepped into the light and Chuck smiled with glee, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he turned to Lyriel. “You’ve gotten good at hiding the feeling of grace.” She smiled sheepishly as Cas stepped closer.

Chuck chuckled exasperatedly and raised his hand, waving Cas closer. Cas ran over and hugged Chuck. “Father?” He nodded and Cas gave a small broken sob, squeezing him. He stepped back and took a deep breath, brushing away the tears gathering in eyes. He stiffened and then took a good at Chuck, his eyes going wide.

“You… you’re… wait, what?” Lyriel and Chuck threw their heads back, laughing. After taking a moment to compose themselves, they wiped the tears of mirth out of their eyes. “Yes, Castiel. I took on the form Chuck Shurley. I knew he would be a prophet in the future and I assigned the soul, when he came to Earth, to a different body while I continued to inhabit the body that held the appearance he would have had. When you met me, I let you see what I wanted you to.”

Castiel’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. “Um…” Lyriel snorted. “You boys have fun. I, however, have to take care of our little Winchesters. They attract danger.” She mockingly bowed and backed away before turning and flying to the motel they had been at before. Dean was asleep already, but Sam was sitting on his bed, reading.

When he heard her arrive, he looked up and set his book aside. “How’d it go?” She shrugged. “So far? Pretty good. I figured I would leave them to themselves.” She walked over to Sam and sat on the other side of his bed, flopping backwards, her head falling onto his stomach. He grunted and she snorted.

She looked up at him and gave him baby eyes. “Will you play with my hair?” He narrowed his eyes at her and she pouted. He sighed and Lyriel gave a small cheer, knowing that he had relented. She lengthened her hair and made it straight. He ran his fingers through her hair and she smiled contentedly. “What is with you and having your hair played with?” She looked up at him in shock. “You mean you don’t… you’ve never had your hair played with?”

He shook his head and Lyriel gave a quiet shout of disbelief. She sat up and straightened her legs, pointing to her lap. He raised an eyebrow in disbelief and shook his head. She narrowed her eyes and pointed again. He sighed and laid his head in her lap. She smiled at her victory and ran her fingers through his hair, massaging his scalp.

His body stiffened before relaxing quickly. “... okay. I see what you mean.” Lyriel snorted and continued playing with his hair. He quickly fell asleep and she situated him more comfortably into his bed for moving over to her own bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, everyone was getting ready to go when Cas blinked into existence. Lyriel squeezed his shoulder, her calm facade hiding a squealing little girl who was happy for her baby brother. “How did it go?” He looked at her with slight surprise on his face. “It was… better than I expected it to be. He has changed from what I remember him to be. He is more… relaxed than he used to be.”

Lyriel nodded, understanding what he couldn’t quite put into words. “Of course he has changed. It has been many millennia since we have seen him. He has lived on Earth and seen more than we have. He lived among the humans. He experienced their pains firsthand. Hell, he was a part of their world. He felt their pains because experienced their cause. However, he has also seen the wonders of mankind. The beauty that they create. Of course he has changed from who he used to be. Still, though, how did it go?”

“We talked. He told me about some of the things that he has done. I told him about Heaven and how things have been since he left, as you haven’t really been able to as you were gone. It is no offense to you, just the truth. He told me that we could meet again if he wished.”

She smiled softly and rubbed his shoulder. Dean and Sam walked back in from the bathroom. “Oh, hey Cas? What’re you doing here? You need something?” Cas shook his head. “No. I was merely telling Lyriel about last night. I should actually be going. I must meet with Michael.” He stood. “I shall see you soon.” He flew to Heaven and the rest of them packed up the impala, travelling to Bobby’s.

* * *

 

Dean pulled the impala into Bobby’s junkyard and saw Bobby sitting on the porch, Shadowfax’s heading resting on his lap. At the sound of the car pulling up, his head perked up and he leapt of the bench, bounding over to the car as they stepped out. _“You’re back!”_ Lyriel got down on her knees and squeezed him. “Oh, I missed you.”

She walked up to the porch and gave Bobby a hug as Dean and Sam brought their duffle bags into the house. They all walked inside and settled into the living room. “So, what happened with Martin?”

“Wraith.” Lyriel said. “I took care of it quickly. Speaking of that, these idiots are going to go insane soon. You may want to confine them before the hallucinations start.” Bobby sighed and shook his head. “Couldn’t you just remove the toxin from their systems?” Lyriel’s eyes went wide and she flushed with embarrassment. “It… that actually never occurred to me.” She walked over and set her hands on their shoulders, removing the toxin. “Oops.”

Bobby walked toward the kitchen, calling back to them. “You want anything?” The boys replied that a beer would be fine while Lyriel asked for a root beer float; she always kept french vanilla ice cream and root beer or cream soda stocked at Bobby’s house. Lyriel rested on the couch, her feet coming up to rest on the coffee table.

When Bobby walked back into the room, he knocked her feet off of the table with a frown, handing them each their beverages. Lyriel scooped off a piece of ice cream and squealed, delighted at the taste. Dean and Sam chuckled at her antics before heading upstairs to take care of their weapons or sleep, their beers in hand. Lyriel wasn’t sure.

After they had left the room, Bobby sat next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, kid, are you alright? The cat told me what happened with that Metatron character.” Her face flushed again, this time in shame. “I-I wish I could say that I was okay. I… Bobby, I almost tortured him. I did torture him. At the time, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. When I came back to myself, I thought I was going to vomit.”

The took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m not okay right now, but I will be.” Bobby sighed before affectionately calling her an idjit, giving her a hug. “The fact that you thought you would vomit is what makes it okay. You are still human. Well, human as you can be. I know that I haven’t known you nearly as long as the boys, but kid? I care about what happens to you as much as I care about them. Please be careful, alright?” She smiled softly and nodded. Bobby stood and went to walk to his room when Lyriel called to him.

“Hey, Bobby?”

He turned to her. “Yeah?” She smiled up at him. “Thanks.” The side of his mouth quirked. “No problem kid.” He walked out of the hall and Lyriel curled up on the couch, Shadowfax sprawled across her lap as she turned on the television, nursing her root beer float before falling asleep to the sound of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


	17. Chapter 17: To Live Again

Lyriel woke up, looking around the motel room they were staying in with confusion, unsure of why she had woken up. As the past couple of days caught up with her, she giggled quietly in giggles at the absurdity of the events. Sam’s body had been possessed by an angsty, hormonal teenager. Sam’s soul had been transferred to said hormonal teenager’s body. Lyriel, of course, had known it wasn’t Sam the second she had looked at him. After she had explained everything that was going on in the world that he hadn’t known about, he had immediately reversed everything and no one had gotten hurt. In the end, it was nothing more but an amusing memory.

Lyriel turned at the minute sound of movement and she realized what had woken her up--Sam was having a nightmare, but he had yet to cry out in fear or pain. Lyriel pushed Dean into a deeper sleep so he wouldn’t wake up and set to taking care of the nightmare herself.

She quickly but quietly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed that Sam was sleeping in. Lyriel gently laid her hand on his shoulder and Sam shot up into sitting position, his breath shuddering at each inhalation of breath as he gasped for air, sweat beading up on his brow. 

She pulled him to her and wrapped her arms around his head, hugging him to her chest as she stroked his hair, crooning in a soft voice. “Shhh, it’s okay, Sam. You’re safe. You’re safe.” He took a deep, calming breath before gently wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her in a firm--but not tight--grip. He mumbled into her chest, “What time is it?” She glanced to the side at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s not too early, all things considered. It is just after 3:00.”

He gave a small snort of amusement in her belief of it not being too early and fell silent. A few peaceful moments passed, filled with only the sound of their breathing. She began massaging his scalp and he hummed in satisfaction. Lyriel whispered, “You wanna talk about it?” Her voice was soft and encouraging, but Sam shook his head, indicating that no, he didn’t want to talk.

She waited a moment before continuing softly, “Do you not want me to know what happened in the dream, or do you, very literally, not want to talk about it?” He stilled, mulling over her question. He eventually replied, saying, “I don’t really want to talk about it, but you can look.” She nodded slightly and pulled away from the hug, pushing him gently to lay on the bed. She laid one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead, gently pushing her grace into his mind and soul in search the nightmare. 

Heat surged around her and Sam’s fear--which she perceived as her own--clouded her mind. Suddenly, the area was as cold as ice and an equally cold laugh echoed in the dark from nowhere. A mirror appeared to the side and the view turned to the mirror, an image of a man reflected on its surface. 

Somehow, Lyriel knew it was the image of Lucifer. The image in the mirror gestured down to itself. “Ooh, this is comfy. I like this body, Sam.” The image in the mirror touched its cheek in mock admiration and affection, stroking down the side. Lyriel felt the touch on her cheek and she shuddered in disgust. She felt herself fighting back against the possession, lashing out in an attempt to take her body back, and the image in the mirror grinned in delight. “Oh! You are trying to put up a fight! How  _ adorable _ .”

She felt mental shackles clasp down on her and she felt like she was unable to breathe, her anxiety climbing through the roof as fear clogged her throat. She felt a tear race down her face and Lucifer wiped away the tear as if bored. She wanted to scream in anger, but found that she could do nothing but watch as Lucifer took control of her body. 

Then, she remembered that she wasn’t having this nightmare. Lyriel breathed slowly to calm herself, and she reinforced the thought that this was not her dream; she was not a part of it, and she was safe. She detached herself from the dream and her sight left the body. She was now standing to the side as a spectator, her body wispy like smoke. She saw Sam, standing in front of a mirror, trapped in his own mind. 

Lucifer taunted Sam and flaunted his control of Sam’s body, forcing him to kill people who weren’t actually there. Lyriel felt Sam’s fear and helplessness, but it no longer felt like  _ she _ was feeling it. Then, as Sam had when he had dreamed it himself, she woke up. 

Her body jolted slightly at the transition from the dream to the waking world and she sighed sadly. Sam was staring at her intently, his eyes searching her face for an indication of any emotion besides sadness; he thought that she might be disgusted. She hugged him to her and said, “Oh, Sam.” She rubbed his back comfortingly. “For one, Sam, he cannot ever take you as his host without your consent. You may feel that he is evil and an abomination--I felt that belief within you when the image of him in the mirror made contact with your cheek--but he was born of heaven. To forcibly take over a host is the equivalent to the kidnapping and the extremely violent rape of a soul. Lucifer is not evil, per se. He is misguided and disillusioned much like the angels were. He, I think, will actually be easier to convince than Michael. He has always loved his family,” she paused. “Well, except for me. Anyways, you are safe from him as long as you don’t say yes.”

He huffed. “Logic doesn’t really work in dreams, Lyriel.” She shrugged and pulled away before looking him in the eyes. “That is true--for humans, that is--but dreams are fueled by real fears. He cannot have you.” She pushed him down to lay down and tucked the blankets around him and brushed the hair from his forehead. He scowled at her. “I am not a baby, Lyriel.” She snorted in amusement before smiling softly and continuing to act like a mother hen. “True, but you and Dean never really got to be kids. Especially Dean. Let me baby you, okay?”

He continued to scowl, but he eventually relented and gave a soft sigh. She smiled wider and moved to sit beside him on to bed, pushing him over so he was in the middle and she was on the edge, reclining against the headboard. She situated his head against her side and began to softly stroke his hair, humming a soft, melancholy tune. “What song is that?” Sam whispered. “It’s a song a came up with a little while ago. It isn’t finished, but I like it so far.” Lyriel replied. He didn’t say anything, but she could tell what he wanted anyways and asked so he wouldn’t have to. “Would you like me to sing it? Well, what I have of it, anyways.” He hesitated and then nodded. She took a breath and began to sing the same melody, but with lyrics this time. 

_ “Sound the bugle now, play it just for me. _

_ As the seasons change, remember how I used to be. _

_ Now I can’t go on, I can’t even start. _

_ I’ve got nothing left, just an empty heart _

_ I’m a soldier, wounded so I must give up the fight. _

_ There’s nothing more for me, lead me away… _

_ Or leave me lying here.” _

She took a nervous breath. “You know, even though I used to teach songs of war and love to the heavenly host, there’s nothing as nerve racking as singing a new song to someone,” she said with a sheepish smile. “That’s all I’ve got right now. You think I should work some more on it?” He nodded sleepily. “I’d like that. It sounds nice and the lyrics are very fitting for our little ragtag team,” he murmured. Sam yawned and his eyes drifted closed, fluttering occasionally as he desperately tried to stay awake. 

Soon his breathing levelled out as he fell asleep with dreams of a peaceful world that was not his own. Lyriel raised the hand that had been playing with his hair to rub the now present drowsiness out of her eyes. She yawned and gave a soft chuckle as she realized that there was no way she would be able to slip away. Sighing as she resigned to her fate, she grabbed a pillow and scooted down the bed until she was able to rest her head on top of Sam’s. She cuddled up next to him and soon fell asleep. 

A few hours later Dean awoke and sat up, already completely awake. He turned and sung his feet over the edge of the bed and froze in surprise at the sight of the two of them cuddled up to one another before giving a small smile. He walked over and draped a thin blanket over Lyriel before walking to the bathroom to take a shower.

When the door shut, Lyriel peeked one eye open; she had already been awake. She poked Sam and whispered, “Wake up.” He grumbled and rolled on top of her. She grunted at the surprise of his weight and shoved him off of her and onto the floor. He landed with a thump and he let out an oomph before looking up at Lyriel who was grinning over the edge of the bed. 

With a devious grin, Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her off of the bed and she landed with a yelp. Lyriel glared at him and stood, changing out of her natural form and into the image that she typically utilized in public; it was the image that the demons and hunters knew as “the third Winchester.”

She flung her dark brown, wavy hair over her shoulder and morphed her outfit into a pair of dark skinny jeans, brown combat boots, and a blue,green, and white flannel. Grabbing her bag off the table, she turned to Sam who had gotten up. “I’m gonna go get some food. Want anything?” He raised an eyebrow in amusement. “You could just make us food, you know? Make it poof out of thin air like the first time we met you.” She chuckled. “True, but what’s the fun in that?” She winked and walked out of the hotel room, the door clicking shut softly behind her. 

Immediately, the bathroom door opened and Sam whipped around to see Dean standing in only a towel. He wagged his eyebrows at Sam suggestively and Sam knew he had seen them sleeping in the same bed. He scoffed, although a slight blush came to his face at Dean’s silent but not-so-subtle insinuations.

By the time Lyriel returned, Dean had finished his shower and Sam had taken one as well. She lefted the bags in their direction. “I come bearing gifts!” Dean smiled in delight and ran over, opening the bag she placed in his hand like a child on Christmas Day. He gleefully pulled out the pie, but Lyriel playfully swatted him on the shoulder. “Burger first, pie second.” He glowered at her and grabbed the burger out of the bag. “Yes, mom,” he said sarcastically. Sam snorted in amusement and grabbed the bag Lyriel had for him that he knew held salad and a muffin.

After they had finished eating breakfast and had begun packing up to go, Castiel appeared in a flutter of wings, anxiety painted on his face as he swayed a little bit. Lyriel quickly walked over and steadied him, strengthening his grace. She scowled at him. “Go to heaven, doofus. Stop making me recharge your grace. Now, what’s wrong?” 

He gulped and shuffled his feet a little bit at the reprimand before responding. “It is the angel Anael. You know her as Anna,” he added to Sam and Dean. “She’s… she’s planning on killing Mary. She thinks that it will save the world.” They stared at Castiel in confusion. “Why? Why would she think that?” Dean asked.

Lyriel’s eyes widened in realization. “Because, she is going to kill Mary before she can give birth to the vessels. You and Sam, I mean.” Castiel nodded gravely. Sam and Dean’s eyes displayed the sheer horror they felt. “We’re stopping her, right?” Sam asked. “I don’t know about Dean, but I’m not very keen on not existing.” Lyriel nodded and turned to Castiel. 

“I assume she has already left, correct?” Her voice changed as Lyriel lost her joyful attitude; she was ready to fight for those she loved. Castiel nodded in affirmation and Lyriel responded with a curt nod. She turned to Sam and Dean. “You have five minutes. Grab whatever you think you’ll need.” Not bothering to respond, they started to gather whatever supplies they might need. She turned back to Castiel. “Go to heaven, please. Not just to recharge, though. I need you to report this to Michael. It is quite possible that Anael will not be coming back from this.” He nodded and disappeared. 

Lyriel walked outside and sent the impala the Bobby’s with a note attached that told him they need to leave it there for a while and would stop by soon to visit. She walked back inside and Dean and Sam were ready, everything they need with them and the rest on the bed. She sent those to the impala’s backseat and turned to the boys. “You got everything?” They nodded and she laid her hands on their shoulders. 

They disappeared in a flash of light as they travelled to the past. Lyriel traced Anael’s grace to make sure she was not too early or too late. When they arrived, everything was too bright for a few moments as their eyes adjusted. When their vision cleared, they were in front of John and Mary’s home. It was dark outside and night had fallen. The only source of light was the ceiling lamp on Mary and John’s porch. Lyriel turned to Sam and Dean. “Stay here. I’ll call for you as soon as I explain everything.” They tentatively nodded and Lyriel walked up the sidewalk and onto the porch.

She rang the doorbell and, after a moment, Mary opened the door with a friendly smile. “Hello! What can I do for you?” Lyriel took a deep breath before responding in a grave voice. “Is your husband home?” Mary nodded, confused, and Lyriel continued. “May I come inside?” Hesitantly, Mary stepped to the side and let Lyriel walk inside. They walked to the kitchen where MIchael was. When he saw them, he stood. He smiled and turned to Mary. “Who is this? I was unaware that we were having guests.” 

Mary opened her mouth to reply, but Lyriel cut in. “I apologize. My visit was and is abrupt and impromptu as best. As for who I am, I am an angel.” He looked at her confused before his eyes widened in realization. “Oh, you’re one of those missionaries who believes that they are sent by God, aren’t you?” She shook her head calmly, containing her exasperation. “No, I assure you. I am angel. I have wings and I am from heaven, although I have not resided there in some time. No, I am not crazy,” she added as she saw their faces of disbelief.

Mary stared at her in shock and Lyriel remembered that she had been a hunter--she knew of the supernatural, but she had never known of angels. John, meanwhile, gaped at her. “I know you may not believe me right now, but I am here to save your lives and the life of your son.” She looked down at Mary’s stomach as she realized that Mary was pregnant. “Both unborn and unconceived.” 

John turned to Mary in surprise. “You’re  _ pregnant _ ?” Mary looked down at her toes and nodded. She looked back up at Lyriel. “How could you possibly know that?” Lyriel looked at Mary’s stomach again. “Unlike anti-abolitionists believe, the soul does not enter the embryo all at once nor does it happen at the point of conception. A sort of path opens between the soul and the spirit and at the late stages of fetal development, it enters the body. I can feel that pathway develop. Interestingly enough, you can live without a soul. It is unpleasant, but possible.” 

Mary jolted forward towards Lyriel as Lyriel’s other statement registered. “Who is going to kill us?” Lyriel sighed. “No one, hopefully. They are much weaker than me, but I don’t know if they will enlist the help of others somehow. I doubt it, though.” John looked at her angrily. “If what you’re saying is true, you mean to tell me that you came to protect us and only brought yourself?!”

Lyriel smiled at John. “That is actually a perfect segway to the other thing I have to tell you.” Telepathically, she called Dean and Sam in. After a few moments, they walked into the kitchen and Mary gaped at Dean while Sam stared at his mother in wonder. “It’s you!” Dean smiled bashfully. “Hi.” Mary turned to Lyriel, confused. “Why are they here? Who is the other one?” 

“Mary, John, I would like to introduce you to Sam and Dean Winchester. They are your sons from the future.” John’s narrowed skeptically and glared at Lyriel. “This isn’t funny. You sound like you belong in a mental hospital!” Lyriel turned to him with a glare. “Look, I can’t bring myself to care about whether you believe me or not. What I care about right now is keeping you alive.” She turned to Mary who had realized the full severity of the situation. “Pack bags. Only the essentials. Sam and Dean will keep you safe until you are done.” She gestured towards the stairs and the four walked up, John albeit hesitantly. 

Before they could make it all the way up the stairs, Lyriel took two plates and painting banishing sigils on them with her blood. She broke off part of the plate to make it sharp and then handed them to the boys. “Just in case,” she said. They nodded, each of them keep an eye on one of their parents. 

Lyriel spread her wings and quickly flew around the area in a fifteen mile radius before finding an empty house towards the middle of nowhere and designated it for their safe house. She returned and marked the spot on a map she created. Then, the phone rang. Her head turned towards the phone in one swift movement. She walked over and picked up the phone. A voice came over the line, male and deep. “John, you have to come in to work. We just had three cars brought in and we don’t have enough hands.” Lyriel quickly changed her vocal cords to fit John’s.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” There was a click as the line ended and Lyriel walked up the stairs, carrying the map. “John, would your boss call you into work today?” John shrugged. “Maybe, but I doubt it. I practically just got out of work and the probability of him needing me in such a short time is pretty low. Why, did he call?” Lyriel nodded. “You go with Sam and Dean. I’ll check it out. If it is him, I can help out. If not, I’ll take care of it. You guys head to this location,” she handed Dean the map. “I’ll meet you there when I’m done with this.” 

John’s brow scrunched in confusion. “Won’t he know it isn’t me if he actually needs help? Do you even know anything about mechanics?” Lyriel smirked and Sam and Dean snorted in amusement at the statement. Slowly, Lyriel shifted into Michael’s appearance and the couple gaped at her, Mary coming up to poke at her cheek. She swatted her hand away. “I think I’ll be fine. As for knowledge of mechanics, you pick some things up after living for multiple millennia.” She went to walk away and turned back around. “I’m going to need to know this--where do you work and what is your boss’ name?”

John told her with amusement and Lyriel left, bidding them good luck. She flew three blocks away from John’s work and walked the rest of the way, suspicion flooding her every nerve. She cautiously stepped into the building when she arrived. She turned and, from behind her, she was thrown by a supernatural force, her body flying over the hood of a nearby car. She stood and turned around to glare at Anna. She came at Lyriel and Lyriel saw the insanity in her eyes. When Anna got close enough, Lyriel drew her angel blade and hid its odd appearance. 

Anna’s eyes went wide and she threw herself back, away from the blow. “You have lost your mind.” Lyriel said, her voice sounding like John’s. Anael’s eyes widened as she thought that John was a host of an angel she didn’t recognize. “Brother,” she pleaded. “We can stop Armageddon!” Lyriel shook her head. “You are wrong.” She paused, calculating what to say when she realized what Anael thought and that Anael was too far gone. “It cannot be stopped.”

Anael snarled, her face going ugly. “You lie!” She attacked, drawing her angel blade on Lyriel. Unknowing in the fact that she was fighting an archangel, she fought recklessly. She swung, arching her blade toward Lyriel’s head. Lyriel leaned back to avoid the blow and brought her right leg up, locking her foot behind Anael’s knee. She twisted her body and fell, pulling Anael down. When they hit the ground, she lifted her other leg and swung her body over Anael, pinning her arms and legs down. 

Anael snarled like an animal, thrashing to try and buck Lyriel off. Lyriel knocked Anael out and stood. She knew that she couldn’t just send Anael to heaven--no one would believe her about any of this. So, she left her there and fled to the cabin. 

When she arrived, Sam, Dean, John, and Mary had not arrived yet. She circled the property, making sure that no one was nearby. Soon, the entourage arrived. Sam herded John into the building and gave him a quick rundown on how to defend himself. Dean set up banishing sigils around the barren cabin. Mary and Lyriel were upstairs, setting up more sigils. 

When they finished, Mary pulled Lyriel to the side. “What the hell happened to me?” Lyriel tilted her head to the side. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Mary’s eyes were wet with unshed tears. “Did I lose my mind? I would never have let my sons become hunters! I hated it with my entire soul. It is an awful life that no child should have to lead and, from what you all say, it sounds like they have!” Lyriel was pensive, unsure of whether or not to reveal the truth to Mary. Eventually, her compassion won out and she told the desperate mother. “Mary… you died. On November 2nd, 1983, you died.” 

Mary let out a choked sob and took a moment to compose herself. “He--Dean, I mean--told me the last time he was here to not get out of bed on that day, no matter what I heard.” A tear streamed down her face. “What… what can you tell me? About that night?” Lyriel took a deep breath. “Azazel, the yellow-eyed demon, came to your home to collect the penance you owed him from bringing John back. He poured--or rather, will--pour blood into Sam’s mouth, giving Sam special and awful capabilities. I’m hoping that your life will make things easier, somehow.”

Mary’s eyes widened in terror. “What will this do to them? Will they disappear?” Lyriel looked at her in confusion before realization dawned on her face. “The boy--you want to know what will happen to my Sam and Dean if you live,” she paused, thinking about the course of events. “Most likely? Nothing. Your death was an extremely important event, if even if few normal people were aware of that. It change the future. Your life will do the same. A parallel future will be created that you--this you--will experience. You boys may just lead a different life than the boys you just met. Who knows, maybe you’ll have another child. Maybe it will be a girl.” She smiled cheekily. “Maybe you could name her after me.”

Mary gave a teary laugh. “I don’t even know your name.” Lyriel gasped in shock. “Oh, I’m so sorry, how rude of me!” She stuck her hand out. “Lyriel. My name is Lyriel.” Mary grabbed her hand and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Lyriel. Lyriel… that’s a pretty name. If I ever have a girl, I’ll make sure to fit it into her name somewhere. It is kinda odd.” Mary laughed softly at Lyriel’s affronted look at having her name be called weird. 

However, the laugh turned into a gasp as the power went out with a flash of lightning. Lyriel stuck out her hand urgently. “Come on!” Mary quickly grabbed her hand and Lyriel flew her to the back corner of dining room, masking their presence from everyone else in the building. “Stay here,” she whispered. “Be as quiet as possible.” Mary nodded and carefully sat down so she would be less likely to move. Once Mary was still, Lyriel turned around. 

Uriel and Anael were standing in the center of the living room, both of them looking down at something. She turned back to Mary. “Whatever happens--whatever you see-- _ don’t move _ .” Mary nodded and Lyriel walked towards the two angels in the living room. When she was approximately three feet away, she unmasked her presence. Uriel swirled around, a snarl on his face at the recognition of her grace. “You! You are supposed to be  _ dead _ .”

Lyriel gave him a cold smile in greeting. “Surprise.” In a single movement, she swung her hand towards Uriel’s chest while her left released her angel blade which she sung towards Anael. Shocked by the quick attack, they were unable to move quick enough to avoid her. Lyriel’s blade sliced across Anna’s ribs, causing to cry out in pain. Her right hand slammed into Uriel’s chest, her grace flooding out of her hand as she forced him to vanish. He disappeared in a surge of light, his scream echoing through the room. 

With her grace, she shoved Anael against the nearest wall. She walked towards Anael, slinking like a panther towards its prey. She released the full extent of her power and Anael’s eyes widened in terror and wonder. “What the  _ hell _ are you?” Lyriel smirked. “I’m simply one hell of an angel.”

There was a flutter of wings and Lyriel swirled around, still holding Anael in place. Michael stood before her, wearing John’s body. As he realized who she was, his eyes widened. “Lyriel….” She went to greet him with a hug, but she remembered that this was not  _ her _ Michael. 

She glared at him and then realized that he was no longer looking at her. She followed his gaze and gasped. Sam was on the floor, his eyes unblinking with death. Dean was beside him, unconscious but alive. She ran towards them, forgetting to hold Anael in place. She dropped to her knees with a cry of sadness, completely unaware of Michael killing Anael. After a moment of silence, she turned to him with rage burning in her eyes. “You want your apocalypse? I’ll show you your apocalypse!”

She jolted her hand out, laying her fingers on his face roughly. She pulled him into her memories effortlessly. Images of every dead angel she had ever seen during the apocalypse came into view. The imprint of their wings was burned into the ground, smoke rising from the seared earth. Images passed in her mind of humans, tormented by demons and torn apart by other monsters under Lucifer’s control. All the deaths she had seen because of the apocalypse but had not yet come to pass were displayed in her memory for Michael to see, each horrifying detail crystal clear.

She could feel his consciousness trembling with sadness and pain as he was overwhelmed but what she had shown him. She called out to the presence that she had pulled into her. “This does not have to be. Not for you.” She halted the graphic images and transitioned into her memory of Metatron’s confession and she felt Michael’s rage at the knowledge of his deceit. She took a moment to decide what to show him next. She pulled up the memory of her and the future Michael embracing in heaven, family once more.

She slowly released his consciousness and they returned to reality. Michael had tears streaming down his face. He tried to speak and found that he couldn’t--his throat was tight with emotion. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself and released the tension from his body. He opened his eyes and spoke slowly. “He--future me--has no recollection of this event, does he? You must erase these memories from my mind.” She stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head with fond amusement. “No, I don’t. I was the scholar, you were the warrior. I know more about time travel than every angel in heaven. Mary’s life, should you help protect her and her children from the fates that my Sam and Dean met, will create a parallel universe in which you can fix the mistakes before they are made. My world, however, cannot change. We are working to fix things, and we will, but many have died who did not need to.” He looked at his toes before looking back up at her, hopeful and awkward. 

“That memory you showed me--the one of us, I mean,” he paused and gulped loudly. “Can I… can we…?” He stopped and shuffled his feet. Lyriel chuckled and shook her head in fond affection. “You have never been very good with emotion.” She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Tentatively, he slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders. When he realized that she wasn’t pulling away any time soon, he tightened his grip, burying his face into the crook of her neck. “I have missed you, sister. Not a day goes by that I don’t regret my part in what happened.” He fell silent, content to just embrace her after he said that. 

After a few moments, he pulled back and looked her in the eye. “Where are you now?” She scrunched her eyebrows as she thought of herself during this time. “Milwaukee, I think.” She laid her hand on his cheek. “If I’m wrong, I shall give you a small piece of advice: sometimes, even angels need to pray.” He nodded, understanding what she meant. She smiled up at him. “Show her--well, me, I guess--this memory and show her the regret that you just showed me. She will stand by you if you fight for peace and stop the bloodshed.” She released Michael and walked over to Sam and Dean, bringing Sam back to life but keeping the two of them unconscious. “Gabriel is out there,” she said. “He has put his talents into pretending that he is a trickster god.” She turned her head towards Michael. “Find him.” 

He nodded and lyriel turned to the space where Mary sat quietly, hidden from sight. “You can move now,” Lyriel said. Mary sighed in relief and stood, walking up to Michael. “Release my husband,” she said. Lyriel looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, but he cannot quite yet. I promise he will give him back soon, though.” 

Lyriel walked up to them. “Michael, protect Mary and her children. Prevent Azazel from completing his plan. Always have at least to seraphim protecting each of them. Take care of them and yourself.” She gave him a hug and whispered in his ear, “I will be so happy to see you.” She then turned to Mary. “You may angels protecting you on Michael’s orders, but still stay in bed on November 2nd. If you get up, you could get caught in the fight.” Michael and Mary nodded, indicating that they understood everything she had said. 

She moved to kneel beside the boys, laying one hand on each of their shoulders. She looked back up at Michael and Mary. “Lead better lives than we did. Don’t make our mistakes,” she said as she smiled tearily. “Goodbye.” They repeated the sentiment to her and, in a flash, Lyriel, Dean, and Sam disappeared.

* * *

 

Sam groaned and sat up, looking around the room and immediately recognizing it as his room at Bobby’s. He thought back and the last memory he had was getting hit, extreme pain, and everything going black. He tentatively stood, resting his hand on the wall when he lost his balance slightly. He carefully walked downstairs, speeding up when he heard voices. 

Lyriel was sitting in a comfortable chair that she had conjured in the kitchen, nursing a root beer float as was usual. Dean was leaning on the edge of the table, a beer in his hand. Lyriel turned at the sound of movement and smiled at Sam. “Morning, sunshine.” He grunted and went for the coffee, making Lyriel laugh slightly before getting serious and calm. 

“I took care of everything. I made sure Mary was safe before taking care of Anael and Uriel. I sent Uriel back to heaven with a grace form of a banishing symbol that I developed.” She paused. “Michael showed up.” They both choked on their respective drinks and sputtered. She put up a hand to interrupt anything that they might have had to say. “I reminded Mary about November 2nd, but Sam would have still been effected if Michael hadn’t stationed seraphim to protect each of you. Those two influences combined--the changes to Mary and Michael--created a parallel universe. One where you two lead very different lives. Somewhere, there are versions of you who will never encounter demons and the other monsters in our world. Hopefully, Michael will have enough foresight to have angels eliminate the monsters like they should have in our world. Somewhere, versions of you will grow up with a permanent home. You might make your own families. Sam, you may end up old and wrinkled with Jess. These versions of you will lead the lives that you never got. I have to hope that even though I couldn’t help you, helping them was good enough.”

  
They both smiled and set their drinks down before walking over and hugging her in a group hug. They may have been an unconventional family, but they were a family and they were, in that moment, happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although I am not sure if anyone reads this story on this site. Anyways, in case you didn't notice, I really want to ship Sam and Lyriel. However, I want your opinion first. I will have a poll on my page on fanfiction.net. My pen-name is still RippleInThePond. Please go to the poll and give your opinion. Comments and kudos are well-loved!!!!!


End file.
